


How Reid Learned To Love Being A Werewolf

by suzvoy



Category: As the World Turns
Genre: Falling In Love, Getting Together, Luke is asserting himself, M/M, Noah Was A Bad Boyfriend, Reid is a werewolf, Surprisingly not a crack fic, Werewolves
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-11
Updated: 2018-10-16
Packaged: 2019-07-29 13:11:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 35,673
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16264880
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/suzvoy/pseuds/suzvoy
Summary: "You're a werewolf, not Spider-Man."





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, it's a Reid werewolf fic \o/ Entirely D's fault, so thank you to her especially :D Also, thank you very much to amelialourdes and cindergal for giving me someone to talk to in this tiny, tiny fandom. It actually helps the writing a lot. Thank you to anyone who's left a comment lately!
> 
> This is set sometime after the May 13th, 2010 episode of ATWT, more specifically after Luke and Noah have their 'hospital rooftop chat' where Noah wants to get back together but Luke tells him things have changed. Reid is all hurt and jealous and grumpy because he thinks they're getting back together <3
> 
> In this fic I wanted the idea of being a werewolf to be less about the physical capabilities and more about how it could mess with you emotionally. Also, this is a soap, so there's a douchey ex, poor police protocol, unbelievable sap and more! Not a crossover with anything. I'll be posting a part each day. Rated R for sexual situations and swearing.
> 
> Feedback would be fantastic!

Oh, _perfect_.

After what had become a string of particularly annoying days at Oakdale Memorial, Reid now couldn't even enjoy his favourite drink in peace – because Luke Snyder had just walked into Java.

Reid hadn't seen him around for a while (not that he'd noticed his absence or thought about him at all, despite what Katie seemed to think), but he strongly doubted that, in that time period, Luke had somehow suffered a complete personality change.

Then again, this was Oakdale.

Nonetheless, Reid was proven right in his prediction that Luke would make a beeline for him the moment he saw him, as the man in question quickly walked towards him despite Reid's not-at-all desperate bid for the exit.

“Reid,” Luke greeted with hesitant grin.

Yeah, Reid wasn't doing this. He'd given it a shot, but even he was only human and he'd had more than enough of Luke's on-again off-again relationship with Noah. The operation had been a success, Noah's eyesight was slowly coming back and once this neurology wing had been built, maybe he could finally focus on that instead of Luke's ridiculous hair.

Which looked particularly good today.

He tightened the grip on his disposable cup. “Mr Snyder.”

Luke's face fell and Reid didn't allow himself to feel bad about it. They stared at each other awkwardly for a few moments, which Reid decided to use as an out.

“I should get going, I need to get back-”

“I'm meeting my Grandmother here,” Luke interrupted, drifting slowly towards an empty table.

The words were out before he could stop himself. “The nice grandmother or the rich one?”

“They're both nice, Reid,” Luke rebuked, folding his arms across his chest as he turned to face him again. “But...the rich one,” he conceded, though he didn't look happy about doing it. “There's a Grimaldi relative coming to town.”

Reid's eyebrows raised, remembering just the little he knew about Damian. “Bet your folks are gonna love that.”

“They don't know yet,” Luke admitted, making a face at Reid's _you're an idiot_ expression. “I know, I know.” He held his hands out. “But that's why I'm meeting with Grandmother – we're strategising. Mom and Dad can never be...un-emotional where anything to do with Damian's concerned.”

“And you can?” Reid asked, disbelief evident, because he'd never seen Luke be un-emotional about anything.

“I can try,” Luke said decisively. “They said they want to...help heal the wounds that Damian made.”

After all this time? What the hell took them so long? “And you want to make sure that's not a load of baloney.”

“Everything's about food with you,” Luke pointed out and, well, he wasn't wrong.

Reid was about to say _be careful_ , before realising he'd been pulled in again – it seemed to happen so damn easily – and that Luke wasn't his to worry about and never really had been. “I should go,” he announced suddenly, because if he didn't he knew he'd end up staying despite himself.

“Oh.” And, yeah, that was definitely disappointment. “Okay, Reid. Thanks for listening.”

He absolutely did not waver. “Bye,” he said and bolted for the exit.

*

Reid was a scientist. He knew that the full moon theory was just a theory with no basis in reality, that it actually had no effect whatsoever on patient admission.

After a night like tonight, it felt like hard scientific fact.

Exhausted, Reid was stripping out of his lab coat in the on-call room when he heard a knock on the door.

“Dr Oliver?” A voice asked. “You in there?”

_Wonderful_. Noah. Throwing his coat into the laundry, Reid turned to see Noah peering cautiously into the room. “Yes, Noah, I am in fact in the room marked _Staff Only_. Though,” he conceded, thinking of Noah's eyes, “you might have an excuse.” Noah grinned, which was disturbing for anyone at this time of night. “You're here late.”

If he were a nicer person, he might've asked if everything was okay.

Noah told him about it anyway. “Richard fractured his leg rescuing a kitten from a tree.”

Of course he had. Reid had only met the guy in passing when he accompanied Noah to his post-op appointments, but he seemed like the kind of guy who'd fall out of trees while trying to rescue kittens.

“I just thought, while I was here,” Noah continued, “I'd see if you were still here, too.”

“Well, as you – probably can't – see, here I am. Did you want something?”

“Just to say thank you, again,” Noah said gratefully. “My sight is definitely still a work in progress, but...every day it feels like I can see a little bit more.”

Noah Mayer was definitely a paradox. Here he was thanking Reid almost on bended knee, where Reid had seen him treat Luke like crap, over and over again, just for loving him.

“Just doing my job,” Reid said, because if he didn't he might start grinding his teeth. Then, probably because he was clearly a masochist, “Luke didn't come with you?”

Noah's face stuttered. “Oh. Uh, no, I didn't...we're not...”

Maybe, if he hadn't been barely standing after a difficult twelve-hour shift, he would've stopped there. He didn't. “Everything okay?”

Noah actually seemed to appreciate the opportunity to talk about it. “I...don't know, to be honest with you. Have you noticed that Luke's not been at my appointments lately?”

That he had. “Now that I think about it, I haven't seen him surgically attached to your side for a while. Have you not had the grand reunion you were hoping for?” Why did he do this to himself?

“Not quite,” Noah admitted, seemingly pleased to have someone to confess to. “I always thought that, after I could see again, we'd get back together.” Reid still didn't comprehend why Noah being blind had to change their relationship at all. “But we spoke and Luke said things had...changed for him.” Reid's heart most-assuredly did not jump into his throat – biologically or metaphorically. “He didn't go into detail, but it was clear we both needed some time. So, I asked him for some space.”

Of course he had.

“And he gave it to me,” Noah continued, “straight away. And now I don't know how I feel about it.”

Reid pinched the bridge of his nose. “Let me get this straight – you asked Luke for space.”

“Right.”

“And he gave it to you.”

“Yes.”

“And now you're not happy about it.”

“I guess? I mean one thing about Luke is when he loves you, he loves you with everything he has – getting space from him is as rare as-”

Reid's head started throbbing. “Noah, it's entirely too late – or early – for this.” Opening his locker, Reid grabbed his keys and jacket and headed for the door, pulling it open further and causing Noah to step back. “I suggest you go back to Mr Kittens-”

“Richard.”

“And then get some sleep because none of us are thinking clearly at this time in the morning.”

He heard Noah call out behind him, but Reid had one goal in mind and that was to get the hell out of there ASAP.

Reid had a car but that was really only for going out of town or to the local QuickMart. Almost everything in Oakdale was within reasonable walking distance, including his and Katie's apartment.

Shrugging his jacket on, Reid sighed, annoyed at himself. Noah wasn't the only one that Luke hadn't been around lately. Aside from bumping into each other at Java the other day, Luke hadn't been present at the hospital, either – which was impressive considering they were working on the neurology wing together.

Reid had been silently praising himself for avoiding Luke, for passing everything through intermediaries and email, but it'd only been so effective because Luke had probably been doing the same thing.

He knew it was a smart move on both their parts given the current situation – maybe they all needed 'time'. But it also couldn't last, Reid knew that much, not with a project as big as this. At some point he was just going to have to get over this _thing_ he had for Luke Snyder-

Reid didn't see it coming. He didn't hear it coming. He didn't even know what the hell it was, but as he rounded a corner on the empty streets of Old Town, someone or something tackled him to the ground.

Reid tried to react, tried to fight it off but whoever – whatever – it was was so strong, he could do nothing but scream as it gouged his skin with its nails.

Fortunately for him, that was just about the time he passed out.

*

After what was, without a doubt, the worst night's 'rest' he had ever suffered in his entire life, Reid woke up gasping. He hadn't been awake for any of it, but he'd had vivid and disturbing dreams ever since passing out, and now that he'd woken up his entire body ached. It felt like his body had decided to run a marathon without sending a memo to his brain about its extremely energetic plans.

What the hell was that _smell_?

Facts and information started to trickle into his brain. He was still alive which, frankly, he hadn't expected. He was in a hospital room in Memorial. And Katie was snoring quietly in the chair next to his bed.

He soon realised the smell was Katie's perfume – it was much more overpowering than usual. Maybe he'd suffered some minor and hopefully temporary damage to his temporal lobes, though he didn't remember hitting his head. Although given the fact that he'd passed out, there was no telling what had happened to him afterwards.

Deciding it was best not to think about that, he cleared his throat. If he'd been feeling up to it he would've lobbed something at her head – a tissue, the empty cup on the table – but he settled for saying, “Hey, Blondie.”

The snoring ceased suddenly as she shifted in the chair, then realised what had woken her. “Reid!” Stumbling to his side, she patted his hand. “I was so worried, I'm so glad you're awake. How are feeling? I'll get Bob.”

Not waiting for an answer or any kind of response, she ran out of the room as quickly as she'd appeared next to him. It was all too much for Reid, who closed his eyes in exhaustion.

He must've dozed off again, because it was only the sound of Bob's voice that roused him an unknown amount of time later.

“Reid?”

Blinking awake, Reid saw Bob next to the bed, Katie nowhere in sight. “Bob.”

“It's good to see you conscious and verbal,” Bob said with a fatherly smile. “Though some might say otherwise,” he added, the old coot. “You were found unconscious and bleeding in Old Town a few hours ago. Can you remember what happened?”

Reid had, perhaps, been trying not to think about exactly what had happened a little too closely. “Someone jumped me,” Reid shrugged, “that's about all I can tell you.”

Bob shook his head in disgust. “I'm sorry, Reid. Margo will want to speak with you when you feel up to it.”

Enough about that. Now that he was becoming more alert, Reid needed to know. “What's my condition?”

Bob sighed and gave his answer. “I won't lie to you, Reid, we were worried about you for a while. Your body temperature and pulse rate were incredibly high, but it didn't seem to be having any impact on your brain function. Your sleep was...disturbed. We considered putting you in restraints, but it seemed the worst of it passed quickly.”

Reid remembered having bad dreams, but... “Did I hurt anyone?”

“No,” Bob assured him with a smile. “And Katie wasn't permitted entry until we were sure you weren't a risk.”

“Good,” Reid said, relieved. The last thing he ever wanted to do was...

What the hell was that sound? “Is that...someone running?”

Bob frowned, likely taking this as a new symptom. “Can you hear something, Reid?”

It definitely sounded like shoes slapping against linoleum but it was loud enough that he should be seeing them right here, like they should be in the same room he was in right now. He shook his head at himself. What the hell was going on? “I must be going loco, Bob-”

The door banged open and Luke burst in, panting for breath.

Had that been _Luke's_ shoes he'd heard hitting the floor?

“Luke,” Bob instructed, “if you want to speak to either of us you'll need to wait outside until we're finished. This is a private consultation.”

“Right,” Luke agreed, still breathing heavily as he stared at Reid in a way that Reid had to tell himself not to read into. “Sorry. I just...heard and...” Seemingly regaining his equilibrium, he cleared his throat and stepped back out of the room. “I'll give you some privacy.”

Once the door clicked shut, Bob turned and smiled down at Reid. “It's nice that he's come to care about you so much, though I suppose working on the neurology wing together has smoothed some of the rough edges. I vividly remember how often you two used to clash.”

“You and me both, Bob,” Reid retorted and wished for those days with the kind of rosy-tinged fondness he never would've expected for any of the time he'd spent in Oakdale. “Okay, old man, let's talk theories.”

He and Bob chatted for a while, Reid relating symptoms – his utter exhaustion, how every part of his body felt like it'd been through the washer, and that he either had bizarre increases in his ability to smell and hear, or he was suffering olfactory and auditory hallucinations.

Yeah. They were both stumped.

Bob did tell him at least that the only sign of outward physical injuries was a long gash on his left shoulder blade, which had been appropriately treated and dressed. Though he'd sure as hell felt it happening last night, Reid had almost forgotten about the likelihood of an injury being there. He couldn't feel anything wrong with his back in particular, though that was mostly due to the fact that he felt sore everywhere.

Even his _fingernails_ hurt. What the hell was that about?

Eventually Bob left, to schedule further tests and let Margo know that Reid was available. Reid was just fiddling with the controls that raised the top half of the bed when there was an honest to God knock on the door.

He paused, because there was no way-

“Reid?”

-but apparently there was a way, because that was in fact Luke's voice speaking to him through the door.

He should've just told Luke to leave, but Reid was honestly too tired even to argue with him right now. “Come in.”

Luke had been poised to pounce apparently, as the door opened immediately and he stepped inside.

“There is no way,” Reid began in on him, making Luke pause and frown, “that you can actually be Luke Snyder. Because the Luke Snyder I know would never even think of doing something as simple and polite as...knocking on a door.”

Having quickly caught up with the conversation, Luke made a face at him as he let the door swing shut. “I know, I know, I kind of have a history of barging into places-”

“Kind of?”

“Cut me some slack,” Luke told him, shoving his hands into his pockets as he drifted closer towards the bed. “I'd heard you'd been hurt. I was...you know...” he shrugged and looked off to one side. “Worried.”

Reid absorbed that information silently. “You ran all the way here just because I'd been hurt?”

“It wasn't _all the way here_ ,” Luke insisted awkwardly, “I was already in the hospital when I found out. But, anyway,” he continued defiantly, lifting his chin, “I have nothing to be ashamed off. I care about you. You know I care about you.”

Luke caring about him wasn't the problem. It just always seemed like, on any particular day, Luke couldn't decide if he cared more about Reid or Noah.

_Fuck, listen to me_ , Reid thought. As if the only thing he had going on in his life were his concerns that the guy he liked might not like him back just as much. He'd just been attacked, for crying out loud. “Right,” Reid said, pressing his head further against what passed as a hospital pillow and closing his eyes. “Lucky me.”

Reid didn't say anything for a while and, surprisingly, neither did Luke.

As it turned out, it was probably because he was building up the courage to ask: “Is it serious?”

The question and tone of voice made Reid open his eyes. Luke was standing a little further way from the bed now, face a picture of concern.

Even Reid couldn't keep torturing him. “I don't think so,” he said honestly, because even though he didn't understand what the hell was going on with his body, he didn't feel sick at all. He was tired and sore, yes, but he didn't feel weak. If anything, just the opposite. “But then this is Oakdale, so who the hell knows?”

Smiling, obviously relieved, Luke moved towards the bed again. “Well, a man with a brain as large as yours usually knows what they're talking about, so I'll take your word for it.”

Reid responded to the teasing despite himself. “I recognise blatant flattery when I see it, Mr Snyder, no matter how accurate you are about the size of my-”

Perhaps fortunately for Reid, there was a knock at the door and Margo Hughes entered the room. “Dr Oliver?”

Luke took that as his cue and immediately started talking. “I'll get out of your hair. I should get going anyway, I'm meeting someone soon.”

“That...relative?” Reid asked, remembering their conversation at Java. When Luke nodded, Reid followed suit. “Remember: no baloney.”

“I remember,” Luke assured him, “and Reid.” He moved closer to give them the illusion of privacy. “I know things have been...weird. Between us. But if you need anything, anything at all, I'm always here for you.”

Luke looked so sincere, placing a hand on Reid's shoulder. He also smelled really good. Amazingly good, actually. Astoundingly, mouth-wateringly-

_Literally_ mouth-wateringly good as Reid's mouth suddenly filled with saliva.

_What the fuck?_

*

Margo took his statement, for all the good it did – there wasn't much to it and they both knew it. There were no witnesses, there'd been no other attacks recently, and Reid couldn't give any details about his attacker besides the fact that they were built like a linebacker. And apparently had a set of nails that'd give Freddie Krueger a run for his money.

Bob discharged him in the early evening, after more tests that were all inconclusive. However, his body temperature and pulse had returned to normal and he was no longer agitated when he slept, so Bob saw no need for Reid to take up a much-needed and expensive hospital bed.

Bob was very clear, however, that Reid was to take the rest of the week off.

Reid was still too tired to even argue, happily clambering into the passenger seat of Katie's car as she drove them the short distance to their apartment.

“You need anything?” she asked, nodding to the approaching grocery store.

“Just a bed,” he retorted, staring out the window at the sun sitting low in the sky.

He got his request almost the moment they arrived home when he tugged off his shoes, face-planted into his bed and fell asleep.

Reid woke hours later feeling...sweaty. Katie had obviously come in and closed his curtains at some point as they were drawn and the room was cloaked in darkness.

Jacob was screaming his head off. Reid had learned to have remarkable patience with Jacob – he'd never been a people person and he'd certainly never been a kid person. Still, when you lived with a baby you had to adapt, he supposed, and Jacob was a cool little kid.

As far as little kids went.

Tonight, however, Jacob's screams were particularly loud; piercing, even. Not only that, but now that he was awake all Reid could smell was baby poop (he'd called it shit, once, in front of Katie, and had learned to never do that again). He knew better than to think that Katie hadn't changed Jacob recently, so why was the smell so fucking strong?

Add on to that that Reid felt strangely _restless_ and like he was literally about to come out of his skin and...it was fair to say that he was not having a good day.

Or night. Because somehow Reid knew, with absolute conviction, that it was night time.

He knew he should go back to the hospital. He knew he should get Katie to drive him but all he really wanted to do was _run_ and why did that make any sense at all?

Panting, trembling, Reid stumbled across the room, following the _itch_ at the back of his mind that told him what he needed to do.

Yanking open the curtains, Reid stared at the moon, almost-full and bright in the sky, and though he didn't calm, didn't stop shaking – if anything, it got worse – he was _happy_.

What that might suggest...imply...finally sunk into his brain.

“Oh, you've _got_ to be fucking kidding me.”

Reid was all instinct after that moment. He rushed out of the apartment, only realising later that he'd left the door open.

That didn't matter. Nothing mattered more than this feeling, than doing what the moon told him to do.

The moon felt warm, reassuring as it guided him, showed him where he needed to go, and he really wasn't surprised at all when he found himself, shoeless, standing outside Luke's townhouse.

Only all the lights were turned off. And Reid had no idea which room was Luke's. But he knew Luke's smell, didn't he, and it was easy after that, the easiest thing in the world to just leap up the side of the building, force Luke's bedroom window open and clamber smoothly inside.

Luke was awake almost immediately, flicking a lamp on as he sat up in bed, startled. “ _Reid?_ ” Throwing the covers to one side, he practically jumped out of bed. He was wearing nothing but boxer shorts which did absolutely nothing to help with Reid's equilibrium. “What are you...?” He glanced at Reid's feet. “Where are your...?” And then finally settled on, “Did you climb in my _window_?”

“This is all your fault,” Reid accused, pointing at Luke, “you brought me here, forced me into this hellhole, never once thinking about the consequences.”

“What consequences?” Luke asked, looking utterly lost as he grabbed Reid's arms. “Reid, tell me what's going on.”

Reid's nostrils flared and his mouth watered again, which was really not the time. “Oh my God, you smell so fucking good.”

“Okay,” Luke said soothingly, like he wasn't listening to the ravings of a mad man. “Thanks?”

Reid clutched back at Luke. Focus. _Focus_. “You need to fix me. I know you can fix me.”

“Of course I can, Reid,” Luke promised urgently. “Just tell me what I need to do.”

Yes, good. Luke always gave his heart and soul when he promised to do something. Somehow they'd figure this out. “Either I've completely lost my mind, which really should've happened sooner living in this town, or – and this is so ludicrous I'm ashamed at myself for even saying it out loud – I've actually turned into a-”

“Werewolf?” a new voice interrupted, and they both turned to see a woman Reid sure as hell didn't know standing in the entrance to Luke's room, wrapped in a robe. “I'm afraid you have,” she told them in an accented voice. “And I'm also afraid,” she conceded, “that I'm the party responsible.”


	2. Chapter 2

“Crista?” Luke asked, voice climbing up into interesting new heights. “What are you _talking_ about? _Werewolves?_ Reid can't be-”

“I'm afraid he can, and has,” 'Crista' interrupted, stepping into the room, even as she looked apologetically at Reid. “I'm really very sorry. I had not intended...any of this. I only came to help.”

“Some help,” Reid muttered, which wasn't his greatest comeback. Crista looked to be in her forties and from the dark hair and almost-laughable accent, was no doubt part of the Grimaldi family. This was obviously the relative Luke had been arranging to meet.

On the plus side – if anything could be considered that at the moment – at least he was beginning to feel more...settled and was starting to think more clearly.

Then realised that really wasn't a good thing.

“This can't be happening,” Reid told himself, sitting on the edge of Luke's bed and rubbing his hands over his head. “This can't actually be real. Not even in this ludicrous town.” The idea was so fucking ridiculous – how could werewolves actually be a thing outside of cheesy movies he watched as a kid? It couldn't happen. Scientifically. Biologically. Physically.

It was impossible.

And yet...

“But it can,” Crista argued, “and you know as well as I do what your body is telling you right now.” She glanced towards the open window; the moon shining so brightly it was like it was calling to him.

He thought maybe it actually was.

“Okay,” Luke began, who'd moved to hover around Reid at the side of the bed. “Reid can't be a werewolf, because that's not a thing that exists. I don't know what you did to him, but what I do know is that if you or any other Grimaldi's have hurt him, or come here to try and mess with me and the people important to me,” he paused significantly, the little drama queen, “then the Grimaldi's will see exactly what someone who also has Walsh blood in their veins is really capable of.” He ended his speech, glaring, with his hands on his hips and he was still only wearing boxer shorts which was all too much for Reid.

“Will you _please_ put some clothes on?” he pleaded, because he was only a man – or, werewolf – and everyone had their limits, up to and including the supernatural.

How the fuck was this happening?

It did take some of the wind out of the Luke's sails, however, as he paused and looked down at himself, as if only just realising he was practically naked. “Oh. Right.”

Yeah, Luke was downright terrifying.

As Luke yanked open drawers, Crista moved further into his room. “I understand your doubt and your desire for it not to be true,” she said with seeming sincerity, “but it is the truth. Your friend knows this.” Crista held Reid's gaze purposefully.

Reid swallowed. She wasn't wrong. His brain kept trying to insist that it was ludicrous, that Crista was just some nut-job and there was some other explanation for his behaviour and reaction to the moon.

But he knew. He just _knew_.

She was telling the truth.

By now Luke had pulled on some pajama bottoms and a shirt, so as he made his way back over to Reid he was a lot less distracting. Still smelt amazing, though. “Reid?”

“Can't believe I'm saying this,” Reid stood up, “but Claws McClawerson over there is right. By the way?” He looked over at her. “You need to get a manicure, and fast.”

“Reid, come on,” Luke shook his head and moved closer, “you can't tell me-”

“What I'm telling you is what I know,” Reid interrupted. “I may not be sprouting claws or fur right now,” and was that a thing that would actually happen? “but in here.” He pressed his hand to his chest. “I know. And when I looked at the moon tonight – kill me now – it spoke to me, told me where to go.”

There was a pause as Luke tried to take that in.

Until Crista spoke. “Eh, that's not really how it works.”

Reid lifted his eyebrows at her. “Oh, so you're telling me that Werewolfism is an exact science? Tell me, where did you get your doctorate in lycanthropy?”

“I may not have a doctorate in being a werewolf,” Crista acknowledged, “but I have been a werewolf for my entire life – more than forty years. I know what I'm talking about.”

Reid wasn't impressed by her at all. “Oh, well do enlighten us.”

She glared at him. “While we do have an unmistakeable connection to the moon, it doesn't...control us or tell us what to do.”

While Reid certainly relished the idea that his free will hadn't been corrupted, that didn't feel at all like what he'd experienced earlier. “But when I looked at the moon-”

“It didn't tell you to do anything,” Crista insisted. “All it did was emphasise your instincts – emotions. Despite what movies would have you believe, the moon doesn't control werewolves, not in that way. It's a...reassuring presence that simply encourages you to do what you really wanted in the first place.”

Shit.

“Wait,” Luke started and Reid just buried his head in his hands. “So Reid's overriding instinct in that moment was to come to my house? See _me_?” He sounded stupidly delighted as the prospect.

“I hate this town so much,” Reid said into his hands, wondering if there was literal silverware anywhere in this house he could stab himself with. They were certainly rich enough.

“That's not for me to say,” Crista hedged.

Reid lifted his head, folding his arms across his chest in frustration. “Oh, why stop now? You've certainly been saying enough. Speaking of which,” he continued, “why did you attack me in the first place? I know I'm not on anyone's Mr Popular lists but even I'd find it hard to irritate someone I've never even met.”

Chagrined, Crista wrung her hands together. “That was...unfortunate.”

“Unfortunate? Really?”

“Changing anyone was never my intention. It was true, what I said before, that the moon doesn't control werewolves – but all werewolves do have certain...instincts that come as part of being this way.”

“And the moon magnifies those instincts as well,” Luke concluded.

“Yes,” she nodded, before glancing back at Reid. “Its not exactly the same for everyone – just as all humans cope with the facets of being human in different ways, so werewolves cope with our own facets in different ways. Some people are much better at being werewolves than others. That said...when it's close to a full-moon, you'll likely have a strong urge to go outside, to run with the moon on your skin. You'll want to be with the people you care about most.” Reid did not look at Luke as she kept talking. “And...born werewolves are the only ones who can turn someone into another werewolf.”

That was good to know, in a way. “So I'm not accidentally going to turn anyone?”

“No.” Good. He'd already been envisioning something disturbing happening to Katie or the kid. “And you'll never experience this, but during a full-moon the driving instinct of born werewolves is to...”

Reid got it. “Make more werewolves.”

“So to speak.”

“But you've been this way forever, right?” Reid asked. “You even claimed you knew what you were talking about. And...what? You didn't see this coming?”

“I am not infallible,” Crista said bluntly. “I had not been away from Malta in a long time. I hadn't felt the instinct to turn anyone as keenly as I had here for...many years. There are certain places, or people, that ground you, stop you from-”

“Randomly attacking strangely attractive geniuses in the middle of the night? Yeah, I got that.”

“I had not anticipated that I would feel the desire that strongly. Being away from my loved ones, the place I called home...I had felt comfortable, relaxed there for so long, I'd all-but forgotten what it was like to not have that.”

Reid nodded as he tried to absorb all of this. “So, just so we're clear – you screwed up,” he pointed at Crista, “because you couldn't control yourself despite being a werewolf for some forty years. However, I, as a brand-spanking new baby werewolf, will be able to control myself because I'm not a born werewolf and won't want to play scratchy-scratchy fun times with anyone.”

“For the most part, yes.”

Never a reassuring phrase. “For the most part?”

“Well, as I said, all your natural instincts will be magnified, particularly on the nights around the full moon. Should you choose to go against your instincts,” was it his imagination, or did her eyes flick towards Luke? “Well. Just like a human you'd be able to do that. It would just be a little harder to do – at least until you get used to it. Or find something that helps to ground you, as well.” Okay, and this time her eyes had definitely gone to Luke.

Reid was pointedly ignoring that. “What about the 'grrr, argh' stuff?” He mimed claws with his hands.

Jesus. How was this an actual question he was asking?

“You'll likely never transform fully, not being born this way. And when you do it'll only be on the full-moon.” That was something. At least he wasn't about to have an interesting new nail care problem at a moments notice.

And then Reid realised that his idea of what werewolves looked like was based entirely on terrible movies and TV shows.

“What about you?”

Between one moment and the next, she suddenly...changed. There was no mistaking it for optical trickery or make-up – it'd happened too quickly. Reid took in the bushy eyebrows, elongated incisors and disturbingly yellow eyes. “Wow,” he remarked, “I've seen more convincing werewolves in Twilight.”

Luke scoffed. “You've seen Twilight?”

“Really not the point right now.”

But, even as she rolled her eyes and changed back to her human face (seeing a werewolf roll their eyes at him was certainly something he'd ever expected to see), it had helped his brain to solidify the fact that, apparently, this was real. Even though it made no logical or scientific sense whatsoever, even though it was the most completely and utterly ridiculous thing he had ever encountered (knocking the fact that Noah broke up with Luke because Luke loved him too much off the number one spot)...even he couldn't deny what he'd just seen.

“Holy shit,” Luke breathed quietly as he started pacing around the room. “Holy shit. Werewolves. Werewolves?” He tipped his head to one side, looking at nothing, until apparently he just decided to roll with it. Nodding decisively, he faced Crista. “What do we need to know?”

Crista gave them a few more facts, instructions and answered any questions they had (increased speed and strength, greater hearing and sense of smell, faster healing. No, apparently Damian hadn't been a werewolf, yes, there had been werewolves in some distant part of the Grimaldi family for hundreds of years and, according to her at least, she honestly had just come to Oakdale to 'do the right thing'. Whatever that was). 

Despite Crista's argument that they couldn't tell another living soul, Reid absolutely insisted on telling Katie.

“Why?”

“I live with her – and the drool machine. What if I'm having another...difficult night, and suddenly I end up on the ceiling?”

Crista studied him dubiously. “You're a werewolf, not Spider-Man.”

True enough. “No, but on the way here I learned I'm pretty damn agile now. Plus, she deserves the truth anyway. I'm not willing to live with someone I care about and hide that part of myself from them – I'll leave that for other Oakdalian's.” Which earned him an elbow in the ribs from Luke.

Considering it, Crista clasped her hands together. “Is she trustworthy?”

“Yes, absolutely.” Reid had no doubt. “And besides, even if she did say anything, who the hell would believe her?” Reid could barely believe it himself.

“Fine,” Crista conceded. “She, and perhaps the child, when it's older. But no one else.”

For once Reid wasn't about to push his luck. He could see why this was the kind of thing that needed to be kept secret – and he didn't want to run around telling everyone he knew anyway. Reid may not have given a crap about his personal reputation, but he did care about his professional one.

“One thing I need to check first,” he added. He was pretty sure he knew the answer, but in this he needed to be absolutely sure.

“Yes?”

“I'm not a...threat...to them, right?”

Her face softening, Crista shook her head. “No. Popular culture has done us a disservice – becoming a werewolf doesn't make you aggressive or violent. The only reason you'd ever be violent is if you were-”

“Already inclined to violence?” Good. That was...very good.

She nodded, then left, to get herself a glass of water. It was only at her absence that Reid finally realised there should've been other people there.

He may have also been looking for an excuse to not stand in an awkward silence with Luke, following the whole _hey, I'm a werewolf now_ reveal. “Hey, uh, shouldn't your mom be here somewhere? Or is she hiding in the laundry basket?” He flipped open the basket in question as he passed and immediately regretted it as the smell of pure concentrated _Luke_ poured out.

Luke probably made a face at him. Reid was too busy frantically trying to get the lid back on to know for sure.

“She and the girls are out of town for a few days – Mom's trying it as a bonding activity to improve things with Faith. Not that Faith even wanted to go.”

At least she was trying. “You think it'll work?”

“I hope so,” Luke said honestly, then sighed, “but I doubt it.”

There was a glum silence as they stood on opposite sides on the room, both of them no doubt trying to get it through their heads that, apparently, this was actually happening. The more time passed, the closer Reid became to feeling almost normal, until he realised... “Wait a minute.”

Luke frowned at him. “What is it?”

“Wait, are you and,” Reid stepped towards him, “'Crista' the only two people in this house tonight?”

“Yes...?”

Apparently, Luke really didn't see the problem. “Are you _trying_ to get yourself killed?”

“Uh, no-”

Luke obviously had no self-preservation instincts whatsoever, which really wasn't that big of a surprise. “Not only are you alone in a house with a werewolf-”

“To be fair, there was no way I could've known that at the time-”

“-but you're also alone in a house with a _Grimaldi_ which, from what you told me, might actually be worse.”

“Gee, thanks,” Luke said flatly.

He really had no reason to get offended. “So they're not the same family who kidnapped you and your dad? Kidnapped Noah? _Shot_ Noah?”

“Not Crista specifically, no,” Luke argued, “and you know I'm not a complete moron. Grandmother knows she's here.”

“Oh, but she chose not to be in the house herself? Remarkable Grandparenting if you ask me.”

“Grandparenting isn't even a-” Stopping himself, Luke folded his arms across his chest. “I don't even know why I'm explaining myself to you but...sometimes you just have to have faith in people, Reid. You have to give them a chance.”

“But you keep doing it,” Reid argued, stepping forward, frustration flaring. “Ever since I met you you keep putting that faith in people who don't deserve it. You keep hoping that, each time, Noah won't dick you around, that I have any goddamn clue what I'm doing when it comes to,” he gestured between them, “that probably-psycho relations of Mob Dad aren't plotting a grisly death scene while you sleep. At what point is _your_ safety, is what _you_ want, going to come first?”

And suddenly Luke's hands were on his face. “Reid,” he said firmly.

Blinking, Reid realised that he'd moved completely into Luke's personal space and was grasping his upper arms.

Shit. “Am I hurting you?” He started backing away, panicking.

“No,” Luke said warmly and certainly didn't seem to be removing himself from Reid's presence. “But I don't think this is you, or...” he tipped his head to one side, “...maybe it's the new you.”

And...yes. Looking back on it, Reid could say that was definitely more emotional than he ever would've been normally. “Uh,” he scratched behind his ear. “Thanks. For-”

“It's fine,” Luke smiled gently. “I know that this is all new, that you're still adjusting. I can't even begin to imagine what you're going through – literally. Never saw werewolves coming,” he chuckled, shaking his head. “Still,” he rocked on the balls of his feet a little smugly, “it's nice to know you care about me.”

Reid met his gaze bluntly. “You already knew I care about you.”

“True,” Luke confirmed. “That I did.” His lips twitched.

Reid narrowed his eyes. “If you're going to use this werewolf thing against me-”

“I would _never_ ,” Luke held his hands up in mock horror and then they ended up just grinning at each other.

Crista ruined the moment by returning. “So,” she said, looking between them. “What next?”

*

Reid had insisted on Katie knowing ASAP, but decided to wait until after she'd finished at WOAK for the day – a revelation like this one would definitely pull focus off your job, and Reid wanted to impact her career as little as possible. This was already going to impact her personal life in ways they probably hadn't even realised yet.

So he sent a text and made excuses about his vanishing act the night before, telling her he 'needed space' – the same phrase she used when she was struggling with something, so he figured she'd appreciate it, though it was a phrase he never normally would've used himself.

He, Luke and Crista had stayed up until the early hours discussing his new hairy situation – albeit only on full moons – but even though he knew the information was useful, Reid found it hard to concentrate because he still felt so angry at what an idiot she'd been.

Could've been the werewolf part of him. Could've just been been Reid.

It became apparent that even his astounding new werewolf body needed rest when he yawned mid-sentence.

“You should rest.” Crista stated the obvious. “Your body's been through a lot and is still recovering. In fact,” she glanced towards the early morning sun now coming in through the kitchen window, “I suggest we all get some rest. Telling your friend today will no doubt be challenging.”

Reid's body certainly wasn't about to object, and given that he currently had no job to go to it at least gave him a way to kill some time. 

Luke showed him to one of their guest rooms – they had _four_ – and Reid had just flopped his exhausted body onto the bed in relief when Luke spoke.

“Reid?”

“Mmm?” he asked, face buried into an unbelievably comfortable pillow. Money could obviously buy the best – and was well worth it too, in his opinion.

“We'll get through this. I promise. I'll do everything I can to help you.”

Taken aback by the serious tone of voice, Reid turned his head and pried his eyes open to see Luke standing in the doorway, determined.

Still in his goofy pajamas.

 _I need you to fix me_ , Reid had said when he'd first arrived, still half-delirious with the realisation of what was happening, _I know you can fix me_. And maybe this wasn't something that could be fixed – according to Crista, the werewolf deal was a permanent situation – but he knew, without a doubt, that Luke would do everything he could to make this better. Even though, despite Reid's anger when he'd burst into Luke's room, it wasn't his responsibility. Even though it was for a guy that half – okay, three-quarters, _okay_ , four-fifths – of the town hated.

“I know you will,” Reid said seriously and when Luke nodded with satisfaction, he closed his eyes and surrendered to sleep.

*

Reid woke an unidentified amount of time later needing to piss like a racehorse. Taking care of that situation in the en-suite – of course – he freshened up the best he could, before returning to his room only to realise that Luke had been in there at some point. Not only was his scent lingering (so damn weird), a change of clothes and some shoes were waiting on a chair in the corner of the room. Reid changed into them with the closest he ever got to showing glee. One of the downsides of his new super-sniffer was that he was able to smell that he seriously needed a shower sometime in the near future.

The clothes, including the shoes, were all slightly too big but passable – but they all smelt like Luke, which was either the best or worst thing that had ever happened to Reid.

Moving quietly through the house, he followed his ears and found Luke in the kitchen, standing next to a truly impressive pile of food.

“What's this?” Reid asked, eyes bugging out as he took in the giant sandwiches and spread of fruit and cheeses.

Luke glanced at him with a smile, placing the butter knife he'd been using to one side. “Well, you're you so I knew you'd be hungry.” True. “And Crista confirmed that you'd have a bigger appetite now, so...” Shrugging, he sucked some peanut butter from a finger. “I can only imagine the size of your grocery bill from now on.”

Reid would've made a remark about the size of something else, but he was too busy wanting to be the finger that Luke was sucking on. He even started leaning towards Luke – who, thankfully, was oblivious – when he realised what he was doing and forced himself to sit on one of the stools by the counter. “Thanks.”

Resisting Luke had been hard enough to begin with, even with the so-called 'control' he told himself he had. How was he expected to get through this without tackling Luke to the ground? It certainly didn't help that he was surrounded by Luke's smell and, for a moment at least, he couldn't help but turn his head to one side, bringing his nose closer to his shoulder where he inhaled the scent of Luke's clothes deeply.

This was so screwed up.

But speaking of clothes... “Oh, and thanks for...” Lifting his head and a hand, he pulled at the shirt he was wearing.

“No problem. I'm a nice guy,” Luke joked, twisting the lid back onto the peanut butter.

“You are,” Reid agreed, eyeing what looked like a BLT.

“Sure,” Luke shot back happily, “when I'm not blackmailing someone, or trying to buy them off, or-”

Reid absolutely couldn't stop himself and honestly didn't even want to. “No, you are. You're the best man I know.”

Still clutching the peanut butter jar to his chest, Luke stared at him with wide eyes. Eventually, he carefully placed it down, studying it intently instead of Reid. “I'm going to assume that's something New Reid is saying and not respond to it directly.” He finally moved his gaze back to Reid. “I know we joked about it earlier, but Reid, the last thing I want to do is take advantage of you when you end up saying something that you wouldn't normally say.”

“I appreciate that,” Reid said honestly, “but...I think that was all me. Well, regular old me.”

“Really?” Luke asked hopefully and God, he was so easy. How did Noah screw this up so badly?

“Pretty sure.” Despite that blip over Luke's finger earlier, right now he felt decidedly normal. Or as normal as Reid Oliver ever felt, in any case.

“Oh,” Luke said happily, smiling as he looked down at the counter. “Look, I know this probably isn't the time given everything that's happening-”

“Since when did that ever stop you?”

Luke actually stuck his tongue out, the brat. “But, um,” he glanced at Reid. “You know Noah and I aren't back together, right?”

Hearing it from Noah had been one thing. Hearing it from Luke – and the certainty that went with it – was quite another. “I may have heard that news around town somewhere, yes.”

“Okay, good,” Luke nodded decisively as he started plating up the sandwiches. “Good. Let's eat,” he declared and Reid wasn't about to let that opportunity pass him by.

*

Telling Katie went about as well as he'd expected – as in, not at all.

The three of them had arrived at his and Katie's apartment about half an hour before she was due home – Luke for moral support, Crista for proof.

She'd walked in happily thirty minutes later with Jacob in a stroller, smiling at first, but frowning at the obvious stranger in their home. Luke came to the rescue, offering to keep Jacob occupied while the rest of them 'had a talk'.

“What's going on?” she'd asked, worried, reading the tone in the room.

So they told her.

At first, she thought they were just messing around with her. Eventually, she concluded that for some unfathomable reason they were screwing with her head. Finally, she seemed like she was starting to accept it as she stared at Crista's transformed face with tears in her eyes.

“This is...real? This is really...real?”

“It is, Katie,” Luke said carefully, standing in the doorway to her bedroom with Jacob gurgling in his arms.

Swallowing hard, she faced Crista who let her face transform back to its human form as Katie watched. “But you said,” Katie started suddenly, “it won't make Reid violent, right? He's not going to...do anything to me or Jacob-”

“No,” Crista assured her. “Like I said to Reid, it's not like it is in the movies. Or not entirely,” she added. “He might be a little more...himself...but that's all.”

Nodding, reassured, Katie shot Reid an apologetic look but he shook his head. Apology wasn't necessary – she'd been smart to ask.

Luke and Crista left not long after that, obviously to give them some privacy, but ostensibly so Luke could give Crista a tour of Oakdale's sights.

“That'll be a short trip,” Reid remarked, which made Luke and a teary-eyed Katie glare at him. “And you,” he said, speaking to Crista, “you feel the need to scratch anything while you're out and about? Resist it.”

Reid wasn't actually worried about it, apparently the urge to turn someone into a werewolf really did only happen on a full moon, and that was nearly two-nights past now. He was just being a dick for the sake of it.

While Crista made her way towards the elevator, Luke lingered in the entrance to the apartment. “Jacob's down in his crib. Call me if you need anything.”

“I will,” he agreed. “And...Luke?” Reid held his gaze. “Thank you.”

With a brief smile, Luke followed behind Crista.

Finally, it was just the two of them. Throwing himself down next to Katie, Reid sprawled back on the sofa and sighed.

“So,” Katie began with a sniff, “Reid Oliver even _more_ himself. I wonder what that looks like?”

Chuckling, leaning back against the sofa, Reid shook his head in amazement. “It's been a hell of a day.”

“I don't even know how you begin to deal with something like this.”

“Tell me about it,” Reid muttered. Sitting forward, he cupped his face in his hands briefly. “How is this my life, Katie? I mean, I know I'm not a good man, but at least I'm good at what I do and I do good work.” He'd probably used the word 'good' too many times there, but screw it. “How did I end up here?” He lifted his head, gesturing with his hands. “Coerced into this village of the damned that has virtually nothing going for it and then end up as a freaking werewolf?”

“Virtually nothing?” Katie asked, clearly not buying it.

“Well, you're not so bad,” he admitted charitably. “The drool-meister's pretty cool, too. You know, for something that poops ten times a day.”

“Uh huh,” she said. “I know for a fact that we're not the only things you find appealing about Oakdale.”

He pretended not to understand. “True, the coffee at Java isn't actually that bad-”

“Reid.”

“What do you want me to say?” he sighed. “That this is just about the worst thing that could've possibly happened to me at this particular time in my life? Because I was already having these messy _feelings_ for this kid at least ten years younger than me-”

“More like fifteen.”

“Thank you, Katie Couric.”

She smiled at him too-sweetly. “You know I pride myself on my accurate reporting.”

Reid narrowed his eyes. “Anyway, like I said-”

“Feelings.”

“Right. And now this stupid-ass werewolf thing makes those feelings stronger.” He paused. “I can't believe I just said that phrase.” And then continued. “And God, we're so wrong for each other, he's a spoilt rich kid, I worked my way up from nothing, always hating people who had everything handed to them, but...”

“But he's not a spoilt rich kid at all,” Katie said softly.

“Well,” Reid rubbed the side of his nose. “He kind of is. But he may have some other redeeming qualities.” He scoffed, annoyed at himself and where his focus was. “And I turn into a werewolf and this is what I worry about? _This?_ Not the fact that, come a month's time, apparently I'll be howling at the moon?”

“I guess it kind of makes sense,” Katie offered. “Crista said all your emotions and instincts are...enhanced, right? Well, one of the biggest things going on in your life right now is that you're falling for Luke-”

“Never actually used those words,” he pointed out, like it would do any good whatsoever.

“Didn't have to,” she clarified. 

“How is this my life?” he complained again, throwing himself back against the sofa, clutching a cushion to his body.

“I know, Reid,” Katie patted his shoulder with fake-sympathy. “It's very hard being you.”

“It is!”

She gave up teasing, finally. Reid swore the woman was not-so-secretly evil, even as her face grew serious. “Honestly, Reid, I'm not really sure what to say. I mean...there's been some strange stuff in this town over the years, but...”

“Werewolves is a new one.”

“Yeah, that it is,” she agreed candidly. “But...if there's anything I can do to help, or make it easier, you know I'd do it in a heartbeat, right?”

He actually did. “I do, Blondie.”

“Good.” Then she said decisively, “Now, if you'll excuse me I'm going to watch one of my shows and pretend that none of this is happening.” Reaching for the remote, she turned on the TIVO.

“Healthy,” he retorted.

“Coping,” she shot back, then added, “also, you're buying dinner.”

Two hours and a large pepperoni pizza later (Reid had recognised the delivery guy and might have growled at him, a little), Reid had showered and changed out of his distractingly Luke-smelling clothes.

He also felt like climbing the walls.

Christ, maybe he really was turning into Spider-Man.

A few minutes later, Katie had clearly had enough. “Oh my God, will you go outside and run under the moon or something?”

Like he hadn't thought of that. “And where, exactly, am I going to run 'under the moon' in Oakdale without looking like some kind of maniac? Not that this town isn't used to maniacs.”

“Well then go and see Luke. I think you might literally be wearing a hole in the carpet – and you're a werewolf now so maybe that's a thing that can actually happen rather than just being something people say.”

“Luke?” It wasn't like he hadn't already had the idea himself...

“From what Crista said, you and I both know it'll help you calm down.” It was true and, yet, enormously galling. “Only, use the front door this time.”

Reid didn't disagree with her advice about the door at all, but was curious as to her reasoning. “And why's that?”

“Look, I'm all for the big, romantic gestures-”

“That's really not what it was.”

“But we've got Luke's windows to think about. It doesn't matter that you're a werewolf, Reid. You still have manners.”

“Have you _met_ me?”

“Yes, I have,” she grabbed his cell phone, holding it out towards him. “And you're not anywhere near the Big Bad you think you are. Now, call.”

Reid had learned a long time ago not to deny Katie's demands. Part of him wanted to just chickenshit it and send a message, but Katie was watching so...he called.

Luke picked up after one ring. “Reid?”

“Hey,” he paused, rolling his eyes as Katie smiled at him encouragingly. “I was wondering-”

“You wanna come over for the night?”

Well, that was easy. “ _God_ , yes.”

“No problem,” Luke said easily. “Feel free to bring an overnight bag or anything you think you'll need.”

“I will,” he said quickly. “And...thanks.”

“Like I said: no problem,” Luke insisted. “See you soon.”

Katie was delighted – and insufferable – about the whole thing, so Reid quickly packed an overnight bag and got the hell out of there.

He made the journey to Luke's on foot, so did get to walk under the moon, at least. He ended up getting lost in it, on one point, at how _good_ the moon made him feel. He stood there, eyes closed, faced turned up towards the moon and though, as last time, it didn't calm him down per se, it definitely improved his mood.

Despite the fact that an old guy walking a chihuahua had ruined it all by asking him what the hell he thought he was doing (the chihuahua had no discernible reaction to him whatsoever and Reid told himself that he wasn't even the slightest bit disappointed that he apparently couldn't control dogs), Reid felt almost chipper by the time Luke swung open his door.

“Hi,” Luke greeted with a smile, opening the door further, “you're set up in the same room.”

“Thanks,” Reid said gratefully. He didn't think he'd ever thanked someone so much in his entire life as he had Luke Snyder in these past couple of days.

Reid headed straight for the room in question, while Luke turned off lights and locked up downstairs.

A few minutes later, Reid was in his pajamas when Luke knocked his knuckles on the door frame, announcing his presence despite the fact that Reid had heard him coming.

“Hey,” Luke greeted, wearing his own pajamas, “you need anything?”

Zipping his bag up, Reid tossed it onto the chair in the corner. “All good.”

“Okay, well Crista's in bed already so I'm gonna turn in,” Luke announced. “Help yourself to anything in the fridge if you get hungry.”

“Dangerous offer to make to a werewolf.”

Smiling at the joke, Luke started turning away before pausing. “You know where I am if anything...happens.”

Reid fussed with his pillow. “Right.”

Ninety minutes later, Reid hadn't caught a wink of sleep. He'd spent the past hour and a half being tortured by the sounds of Luke being unable to sleep, of Luke tossing and turning in his own bed when all Reid wanted to do was be there with him. It wasn't even about sex – well, not just about sex. He wanted to _cuddle_ with him and Reid had been right earlier, this really was the worst thing that'd ever happened to him.

Even Reid could only hold out so long, crawling out of his bed, desperate, but managed to stop himself from actually entering Luke's room, planting his ass on the carpet outside and bracing his back against the wall instead. _Concentrate on your breathing_ , he told himself. _Concentrate. Control_.

Because his entire life sucked, Luke's door quietly opened a few minutes later. Saying nothing, Luke moved until he mirrored Reid's pose, sitting with his back pressed against the opposite wall.

Reid couldn't even look at him, keeping his head bowed. “This is humiliating.”

Naturally, Luke didn't see it that way. “Reid, there's nothing humiliating about having feelings.”

“No,” Reid said, agitated, “but I should get to choose what to say, or how I do or don't react.”

“Like when you told me you'd been wanting to kiss me for a long time?” Luke asked quietly, which finally made Reid look up at him. “Or that I deserved better than Noah? Or when you kissed me? Because you chose to do all those things before you became a werewolf, and you didn't seem humiliated by doing any of those.”

“But that's just the point,” Reid argued, “I _chose_.”

“And you still chose now,” Luke pointed out, nodding towards his bedroom. “You didn't come in, despite the fact that something was driving you to. Despite the fact that you know it'll make you feel better.” Luke wasn't gloating about it, didn't even appear happy about it – he was simply stating fact.

Reid couldn't have been more grateful.

Standing, Luke offered his hand to Reid. “Come to bed.”

Reid swallowed. “Are you-?”

“I wouldn't be able to sleep myself, knowing you were out here torturing yourself. I'm sure.”

Reid wasn't a good enough man to say no. But... “Luke, if I try to take advantage of you-”

Luke shook his head. “You would never, Reid.”

“But if I do-”

“You would never,” Luke said firmly. “You're still the same man you were before. I trust you. Now,” he waggled his hand in front of Reid's face. “Let's get to bed, Old Man. God knows you need your beauty sleep more than I do.”

The insult worked, spurring Reid up and on. Bracing himself against Luke's grip, he pulled himself up and followed Luke into his bedroom.

Not letting go of his hand until absolutely necessary.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you like Noah, you probably don't want to read this.

Some hazy, unimportant time the next morning, Reid was officially the most relaxed he'd ever been in his entire life.

It no doubt had a lot to do with the incredibly expensive – and therefore comfortable – bed, pillows and 400-thread count sheets.

But as long as Reid was honest with himself – and right now, it seemed to be easier than ever to be honest with himself – it had a lot more to do with just who he was sharing the bed with.

Though he hadn't fallen asleep that way, Reid was now sprawled against Luke's side, head buried against Luke's neck where he could just _inhale_ all of that delicious Luke-scent.

He was warm and relaxed and utterly surrounded by _Eau De Synder_. Reid wasn't just satisfied, he felt genuinely happy and as he lay there indulgently – injury-recovery aside, when was the last time he'd let himself sleep-in? – he honestly couldn't remember the last time he'd felt that way.

If this part had been the only 'bonus' that came with being a werewolf, Reid wouldn't have considered it anywhere near the pain in the butt it actually was.

At the moment Reid wasn't even bothered by his reaction the previous night, how Luke had found him and the conversation that'd followed. Right now everything was just...good. Luke hadn't judged or made fun of him. If anything, with his offer Luke had behaved like he was the maturest out of the two of them. It meant a lot to Luke, Reid knew, just the simple intimacy of sharing a bed with someone.

But he'd offered to share his bed with Reid, without hesitation. Just because he knew it'd make Reid feel better.

Because Reid was a freaking _werewolf_ now.

Yeah, that was still going to take some getting used to.

Focusing his thoughts back on Luke, Reid shifted carefully onto his back, trying not to disturb him as he settled back on his pillow. Luke's hair may have been a permanent disaster zone, but there was no denying the man himself was remarkable-

“Hi,” Luke said and Reid turned his head to see Luke smiling at him.

“Hi,” Reid said back, realising he must've been awake for some time.

Shifting so he was laying fully on his side, Luke just kept looking at him. “How'd you sleep?”

“Good,” Reid admitted. “Very good.”

“Good,” Luke replied and suddenly there were too many 'goods' again.

Despite – or perhaps because of – the strange intimacy of the moment, Reid didn't look away, not even when Luke's gaze fell to Reid's mouth.

Unsurprisingly it was Luke who acted first, throwing himself onto his back with a sigh.

Definitely a drama queen. “What's wrong?”

“It's just not fair, that's all,” Luke complained and for all that Reid had just been thinking about Luke's maturity, now he was reminded of just how young he really was.

Reid frowned at him. “Well, I agree that life is mostly unfair – life is mostly an oozing cesspit of disappointment – but what, specifically, are you referring to?”

“I was so confused for such a long time,” Luke admitted to the ceiling. “Conflicted. And now I'm not. Haven't been for a while, if I'm honest.” He glanced towards Reid but didn't move, now focusing on the light fixture. “And there are all these things I want to say or do and...”

Reid started smiling to himself – only on the inside, clearly. He wasn't a sap. “Bad timing?”

“You just got turned into a _werewolf_ , Reid,” Luke enthused, sitting up and turning to face him. “And I'm being so selfish,” which was ridiculous, Luke didn't have a selfish bone in his body, “I keep thinking about what _I_ want. I thought things were finally going to...” he gestured between them as Reid sat up, “but then _this_ and it wouldn't be right for me to push while you're trying to cope with this crazy situation, and that's even if you're still interested at all.”

“I thought last night made that pretty clear,” Reid pointed out.

“Well, I,” Luke flushed a little, looking down at his hands, “I figured that could've been, you know, just a...physical reaction. Not that there's anything wrong with-”

Reid could see why he'd worry about that. “It wasn't.”

Luke look back up at him hopefully. “Really?”

“Really,” Reid confirmed because yesterday Luke had told him he wasn't back together with Noah for a _reason_ and now, for once, Luke knew what he wanted, was actually being clear about what he wanted.

And that made everything about them, at least, so much easier.

Except not really. Because he'd just been turned into a werewolf (seriously, _how_ was this his life?) and that was something he probably needed to concentrate on, even if Luke's very existence made him want to focus on other priorities. “But it's probably smart,” he continued, “what you were saying. This is a...” he threw a hand up, “downright crazy situation, even for Oakdale. I should probably take some time-”

“Right,” Luke agreed too-easily. “I mean, we both know now that we're on the same page...” He trailed off hopefully.

“We are,” Reid confirmed. “But neither of us is going anywhere. Your whole life is here and you already trapped me in this hellhole months ago; I couldn't leave now even if I wanted to.”

“Cute,” Luke said as he pursed his lips and narrowed his eyes.

“So I've been told,” Reid retorted, which made them both grin. “But, uh, waiting until I get used to,” he gestured towards himself, the rest going unsaid, “is probably a good idea. It's smart.” He couldn't stop staring at Luke's lips, probably because Luke was biting said lips as he looked at Reid's own. “Reasonable.”

“And we're smart and reasonable men,” Luke agreed nonchalantly, who was definitely leaning closer.

Reid snorted. “Well, one of us is-”

“Oh, shut up,” Luke said just as their lips finally met.

Reid had kissed Luke Snyder twice before – once in celebration at being re-instated, and once after Noah's surgery, when Luke had been so obviously conflicted it was as if his emotions had been pouring out all over the room.

This kiss was different to both of them.

This kiss was... _fun_ , the two of them still smiling even as they kissed. Reid honestly didn't care about the morning breath, but he thought maybe that was a werewolf thing because it just made Luke taste even more like...Luke.

Reid wouldn't have called it gentle but it was slow – and not in a bad way. Reid's hands moved to Luke's face and Luke's hands ended up in Reid's hair as they got to know what it was really like kissing each other when it wasn't one-sided or fraught with emotion.

“So much for being smart,” Luke sighed between kisses.

“I've never been called reasonable in my entire life,” Reid agreed between the next.

It was just starting to veer towards PG-13 territory – one of Luke's hands, slipping underneath Reid's pajama shirt, clutching at the bare skin of his back – when Reid heard a noise.

Very, very regretfully pulling away from Luke – who looked dishevelled and flushed in the best way – Reid tipped his head to one side as he listened more intently and identified exactly what the sound was. He sighed, because there was no way they were about to pick up where they'd left off from now. “Your mom's home.”

Eyes widening in horror, Luke threw back the covers. “She is? She's early!” Jumping off the bed, he shoved his feet into his slippers. “Are Faith and Nat with her?”

Closing his eyes again, Reid concentrated. There was the sound of the front door closing, a set of keys clinking into a bowl, something being place on the floor, but...only one extra heart beat. “She's alone.”

Opening his eyes, he was surprised to see that instead of moving Luke was frozen still, watching Reid with a smile on his face.

“What?”

“You're getting good at that already,” Luke said, sounding impressed, before un-freezing and dashing away. Mere moments later he was back again, sticking his head inside the room. “Uh, just so you know, you don't have to...hide, or anything. I'm not embarrassed,” he insisted, even as he flushed pink.

Then he was gone again.

Taking Luke at his word – and the advice of his stomach – Reid decided that, after freshening up, he'd head downstairs, too. Not that he was particularly looking forward to anything Lily Walsh had to say when she realised that he'd spent the night with her son, even if there had been no hanky-panky.

Reid heard Luke greet his mom, expressing his surprise that she was back so soon; heard Lily say something about Faith causing problems – there was a shocker – and how she'd dropped the girls off at the farm. He gave them some privacy after that and went about his morning routine as typically as he could.

As he got changed he remembered Luke clutching at his back and finally remembered about the dressing – to be fair, he'd had ample reason to be distracted. The angle was awkward but he managed to get it off and after contorting his body in front of the bathroom mirror Reid could see it was as he expected – the skin underneath the dressing was completely smooth, unblemished, as if nothing had ever happened.

He got stuck in his head for a while after that, knowing how amazing it really was, but as he made his way downstairs reality set in. In all honesty, he hadn't had that many interactions with Luke's mom and he actually didn't think he'd been too insulting to her – for once. One thing he did remember, however, was that she was a very big fan of one Noah Mayer.

Which did not bode well.

Still, he was a neurologist and a grown man. He faced distraught family members all the time – he could cope with whatever Lily Walsh threw at him.

Besides, Luke was worth the trouble.

As Reid stepped into the family room, it became immediately clear that Luke hadn't yet got around to the 'a guy stayed over last night, mom' portion of the conversation, if the panicked look Luke shot him was any indication.

Nonetheless, Luke almost seemed grateful that Reid was there at all and headed straight for him, which made Lily finally notice he was there.

“Hey, Mom, you remember Reid.”

Lily blinked in shock. “Dr Oliver? Noah's doctor?”

“One and the same,” Reid confirmed smoothly.

“Is everything okay?” she asked, concerned. “You're here awfully early-”

“Reid spent the night last night,” Luke blurted out and Reid just found himself grinning. There was no doubt it wouldn't ingratiate him to Luke's mom, but he honestly couldn't help himself. None of this was Luke's forte, so part of him expected that Luke would make some excuse, try to pass it off as Reid staying in the guest room all night, but no. He really wasn't embarrassed – or more accurately he was, but was determined not to hide. Once again, he was showing Reid the kind of man he really was.

Lily was clearly trying to avoid the truth a little desperately, her gaze darting between them. “In the guest room?”

“No,” Luke said decisively, folding his arms across his chest. He could've stopped there, but of course he didn't. “He stayed with me. In my room. In my _bed_.”

The chuckle that Reid let out was completely unintended but just as completely unstoppable.

Luke and Lily wore exactly the same horrified expression as they gaped at him, which only made him laugh more.

“Dr Oliver, this is _hardly_ -”

“Are you making _fun_ of-”

“No, that's not what I-” Reid interrupted, turning towards Luke, “-you're just so – well, I'd say 'adorable' but then I'd have to kill myself.”

Luke calmed at the admission, slightly, but then started frowning. “Are you patronising me?”

Reid could only shrug. “I am me, so, probably.”

Now it was Lily's turn to interrupt. “I can't believe what I'm hearing,” she announced, the pitch of her voice rising. “You're Noah's doctor, and to take advantage of Luke is just-”

“He didn't take advantage of anything, Mom,” Luke explained, “he's been completely honest this whole time. And you know that Noah and I aren't together anymore – haven't been for a while.”

There really wasn't much Lily could say to that. “Well...yes, sweetheart, but I always thought you'd get back together.”

“Well, we're not,” Luke stated firmly. “I have some...good memories, but Mom, Noah and I weren't right for each other.”

“And you think _Dr Oliver_ is right for you?” Lily asked, like Reid wasn't even the room. He actually didn't even mind, because he treated the people he didn't care about in exactly the same way.

“I don't know,” Luke said honestly, turning to meet Reid's gaze. “I hope so.” Reaching for Reid's hand, he squeezed tightly before facing his mom again. “But I won't know for sure unless I try.”

Luke didn't back down, holding Lily's gaze until she crumbled.

“I love you, honey,” she started with, stepping towards him. “The most important thing to me is your happiness,” Lily promised as she reached out, touching the side of Luke's face. “If this is what you really want,” she gestured between Luke and Reid, “then I hope you'll be very happy together.”

Breaking out into a huge grin – as if he hadn't just been staring down his own mother – Luke released Reid's hand and threw his arms around his mom. “Thanks, Mom.”

Lily hugged him back, eyes shut tightly...until she opened them again, and there was no way Reid could miss the way she narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously over Luke's shoulder.

“Subtle,” Reid muttered but then Luke's foot stamped on his. “Hey, watch the toes!”

Unsurprisingly, brunch was an awkward affair. Luke seemed determined to overcome it, too-happily babbling away, asking Lily about the trip, discussing people Reid was familiar with and others he'd never heard of (who the hell named their kid Sage? That was just asking for a lifetime of bullying).

When Lily excused herself, Luke finally dropped the act, sighing as his shoulders drooped.

Frowning, Reid let his spoon clank down into his bowl of cereal. “Hey,” he said, reaching out to touch Luke's shoulder. “You okay? I thought she took it pretty well, considering-”

“No, it's not-” Luke shook his head. “It's not that.” He touched Reid's hand with one of his own gratefully. “I was so determined not to hide anything – I had too much of that when I was with Noah – that I didn't think until afterwards that...”

“That...?”

“Now that Mom knows, it's going to be all over town by the end of the day.”

“Perils of living in Small Town America,” Reid nodded.

Lowering his hand, Luke sighed again. “And there are certain people I should probably tell first.”

Ah. Reid could see where this was heading. “As in, Noah.”

“As in, Noah,” Luke agreed. “Even though we're not together anymore and he has no right to...I know he's going to get angry.”

He didn't see Noah as the abusive type – physically, anyway – but he felt compelled to offer nonetheless. “You want me to come with you?”

“Uh, that'd be a no,” Luke said wryly. “Honestly, I think you being there when I tell him will just make things worse.”

“That does tend to happen when I'm around,” Reid stated matter-of-factly. “And actually...” Luke's realisation had helped him have his own. “I should probably talk to Bob.” At Luke's confused expression, he pressed on. “I'm still Noah's doctor. And we're working together on the neurology wing. I'm going to be the head, you're a major donor...”

“Oh. Oh,” Luke said, lowering his head as he scratched at the side of his nose. “I can't believe I hadn't even thought about that.”

“I hadn't either,” Reid assured him. “And I'm a genius.”

“Says you.”

“Uh, says my Masters. And my Doctorate. And-”

“Yes, yes, we're all very impressed,” Luke mocked, though sadly turned serious soon after. “We might have to make some difficult choices.”

“We'll make it work. What was it you said – the world's greatest doctor and Richie Rich? Doubt there's much that could stop us.”

Seeming delighted – _so damn easy_ – Luke smiled down at his breakfast. “Well, while we work all that out, maybe it'll actually force us to act like those smart, reasonable guys we thought we were.”

“Yeah,” Reid pretended to muse even as he leaned towards Luke, “whatever happened to those guys?”

“It's Oakdale,” Luke said with a grin, as he moved to meet him, “probably something tragic-”

“Well!” Lily announced deliberately, causing them to pause and share a silent look that said it'd be continued later. “I think I'll have some more orange juice.” Approaching the counter, she reached for her glass. “Luke – would you like-”

An unmistakeable sound from upstairs made them all pause and look towards the ceiling.

Right. Crista.

“So, Mom,” Luke suddenly began, “someone else is also here. Her name's Crista and, no, she didn't sleep in my bedroom too, but she is a Grimaldi and she's going to be staying with us for a while, okay? Reid?” Luke asked, quickly facing him so he wouldn't have to take in his mother's outraged expression. “Pass the butter?”

Hell, for letting Reid see that expression on Lily's face, Luke could have all the damn butter as far as he was concerned. Reid passed the butter dish with great drama, before holding his empty glass out towards Lily. “I could do with some juice.”

Lily poured the juice into Reid's glass. But she looked like she hoped he'd choke on it the entire time.

*

They went their separate ways just after noon – Luke to see Noah then head to the Foundation, Reid to Memorial to see Bob, and Lily no doubt to take a Prozac and lay down somewhere with a dramatic hand atop her forehead.

Memorial had a particularly high level of patient intake for a town as small as Oakdale – something that wasn't all that surprising when he thought about it – and as Reid passed person after person, he realised he felt decidedly...normal.

After first hearing the news that he was now a creature of the night, Reid had figured that was it, his life was over – or would be changed so utterly that it might as well have been. He'd be restricted in so many of the things he wanted to do. His super hearing would make going anywhere loud or crowded unbearable, his nose the same. Reid, who was not a fan of crowds in the best of circumstances, would find them even more challenging to deal with.

So far, that wasn't turning out to be the case. Yeah, Reid sure as hell still didn't enjoy being around that many people – largely because people sucked most of the time – but it was no worse than it'd been before. Now that he was starting to get used to his...abilities, he found that if people were being too loud he could just turn the old werewolf hearing off. If there was a particularly unpleasant smell – which happened a lot in hospitals – he could simply deactivate his nose. It was almost as simple as flicking a switch.

This whole werewolf thing was turning out to be a lot easier than he ever would've imagined.

Reid stopped those thoughts right then and there, however, because he lived in _this_ town, and in this town he was absolutely going to jinx himself. It was still daytime, he reminded himself, which undoubtedly helped his not-so-furry situation. Crista had said as much, but the contrast was still striking – how well he was coping during the day with just how badly he wasn't coping at night.

At least he'd be able to do his job. That'd been a fear he hadn't let himself openly think about until now.

Bob found him, eventually, as he wandered towards a nurses station.

“Reid,” he said good-naturedly, “it's good to see you, though I hope you're not here to work. I was very clear-”

“And I'm actually listening for once,” Reid assured him. “I'm here about something else.”

Bob studied him with interest. “You know, I'd heard you were on-site for some time before seeing you.” Of course he had; the gossip-mill at Memorial ran rampant. “That you were...wandering through the different departments, not talking to a soul. Is everything okay?”

There couldn't have been a more perfect opportunity. “Could we talk? Privately,” he gestured towards the break room; he could tell just by listening that it was currently empty. “It's...personal.”

That might have actually been the first time Reid had ever used that phrase. Bob knew it too, if his surprised expression was anything to go by. Being Bob, however, he didn't hesitate, heading towards the room in question. “Of course, of course.” Once they were alone, he turned to Reid with concern. “What's this about, Reid? Are you feeling okay? Are you showing any more symptoms?”

“Nothing like that,” Reid assured him. In fact... “If anything I feel...strong. Healthy.” That was particularly true as the constant undercurrent of pain he'd been experiencing since being turned had gone, now. His body must have finished its job of healing itself, post-werewolf.

His life, seriously.

“Good, good,” Bob said encouragingly. “And no more hallucinations?”

“None.” Technically he wasn't lying.

“Excellent news,” Bob smiled, before finally seeming satisfied. “So, what would you like to discuss?”

Reid had never had to have this kind of conversation before in a professional setting. In the past he never would've dreamed of getting involved with a patient's ex – not just because it could be deemed unprofessional but because it'd be _messy_.

Reid had always hated messy emotions, entanglements, relationships.

Before.

Best to just get it over with. “I'm gonna need you to assign the rest of Noah Mayer's recovery to another doctor. Reynolds would be...acceptable. I mean, he's not me, but-”

Things had to be bad if Bob was actually interrupting. “Reid, I must say I'm surprised – Noah's the entire reason you came to Oakdale in the first place. I know how much pride you took in being the only one capable of performing his surgery. If it's really necessary then, of course we'll accommodate you, but...can I ask as to your reasoning?”

Yeah, this wasn't gonna be fun. “I'm...interested in starting a...romantic relationship.” He paused; couldn't help it. “With Luke Snyder.”

Bob's face was a picture. “ _Oh_.”

Reid quickly pressed on because there was no point in dragging it out. “And while technically they've been broken up for months – and I swear to you Bob, nothing happened while they were still together – there are all these...” Reid made a displeased face, “... _feelings_ , and I think-”

“Yes, yes,” Bob agreed, “if you're planning on dating Luke, I can see why assigning someone else to monitor Noah's progress would be better for everyone – especially Noah.”

“Right.” Like he was doing any of this for Noah's sake.

Bob kept talking. “And you're quite sure that this move is necessary? That your interest in a romantic relationship is...returned?”

Reid thought of Luke telling him that he was ready to try, of their kiss that morning, the determination on Luke's face as he spoke to his mother. “Extremely sure. But,” he slapped Bob on the shoulder, “it's cute that you're worried about me, Bob.”

“Yes, _thank_ you, Reid.” He shook his head resignedly as Reid removed his hand. “You realise that we have to take this relationship more seriously than most.”

“Why? Because we're two guys?”

“No, because you're working together on the new wing. When the board find out they could argue it's a conflict of interest.”

Not something Reid hadn't already seen coming. “They could,” he agreed. “But if they do that then they're either going to lose the best neurologist in the country or the millionaire funding most of their shiny new hospital wing. I doubt they'd be willing to lose either one.”

Bob stared at him, eyebrows raised. “That's a...dramatic statement to make.”

Reid tipped his head from side to side. “When in Oakdale...”

Shaking his head, Bob shrugged. “Well, I appreciate your honesty – even if you're a little too honest, sometimes. I'm glad you came to me with this, Reid. Being blind-sided would've been unfortunate.”

“You know me, Bob. Always thinking of others.”

“Oh yes, you're the soul of generosity,” Bob mocked, proving why Reid liked him even when he didn't want to. “In any case, you've given me a lot to think about. I should probably go and...speak to my people,” he finished grimly. “I'll contact you when I have news.”

Nodding his understanding, Reid watched as Bob brushed past him and left the room. Letting out a breath, he relaxed his shoulders. That hadn't gone badly at all, really. More relieved than he should've been, Reid was pulling open the door and already planning his stop-off at Java when his phone rang.

Pulling it out of a pocket, his mood brightened considerably when he saw who was calling. “Hey, how'd it-”

“Look,” Luke interrupted, sounding harried, “I know you're a,” he lowered his voice, hissing, “werewolf now and everything, but try not to kill him?”

“Try not to kill who?” Reid asked, lost for a moment – but then Noah Mayer came stumbling into view looking absolutely furious. “I'll get back to you on that,” he replied before hanging up.

Grabbing a nurse, Noah demanded to know where Reid was, before following her frantic pointing towards him. Reid was pleased to see, at least, that after Noah moved away from her she dove for a phone, hopefully to call security.

As Noah approached Reid couldn't help but wonder how he'd gotten there so quickly, considering the fact that he still couldn't see clearly and his 'friend' who'd been driving him around couldn't manage to rescue a kitten from a tree without injuring himself.

“Dr Oliver?” Noah asked, face an angry scowl.

Reid sighed internally. It looked like they were really doing this. “Yes, Noah, it's me.” This was exactly what he'd been talking about earlier with Bob. This was unmistakeably _messy_.

Satisfied, Noah nodded. “I suppose you know why I'm here.”

“I...have a fair idea, yes. If you'd like some privacy-?” He gestured behind himself with a thumb.

“Oh, why?” Noah smirked darkly. “So you can hide what you've done? No, I don't think so. No, I think we'll do this here where everyone can see.”

Well aware of the on-lookers, Reid pinched the bridge of his nose – Noah seemed to provoke that reaction in him a lot. “I'm not hiding anything, Mr Mayer. I haven't done anything wrong.”

Noah's face twisted into something unpleasant. “Oh, so stealing _Luke_ , stealing my boyfriend isn't wrong?”

Oh, please, what a ludicrous question. “I didn't steal anything – Luke isn't your Little League trophy that I took without asking. He doesn't _belong_ to anyone. And nothing...developed between us until after the two of you had split up.” Technically not true, but he certainly hadn't acted on anything until after they'd split.

“So you were just biding your time, is that it?” Noah asked. “Tell me, Dr Oliver, just how long have you had feelings for my boyfriend?”

Reid shrugged and answered honestly. “Second of third time I laid eyes on him.”

“So you were planning, all this time-”

“I didn't plan anything,” Reid insisted. “Even I'm not that much of a jerk.”

“Clearly you are,” Noah spat. “God, I can't believe it. All this time, I've been so blind.”

“Ha, I see what you did there,” Reid remarked, which earned him a dark glare. “Tough crowd.”

“I trusted you,” Noah said emotionally. “Put my faith in you. I can't believe you'd do this to me. I can't believe _Luke_ would do this to me. And when I was _blind_ -”

Reid had had more than enough of this pity party. “Look, Mr Mayer, I'm not about to say this is the best way this situation could've worked out, but I didn't do anything wrong. As I said, you were already broken up before anything happened. Technically, I didn't break any rules.” Though it hadn't been the most professional move. “And as for you being blind,” because now he was on a roll. He didn't realise how much he'd been looking forward to this until this very moment. “Do you know how many times I wished I was the blind one?”

Noah just looked at him, not comprehending at all. “ _What?_ ”

“So I wouldn't have to sit there and watch you treat Luke like dirt,” Reid told him, feeling a vindictive thrill at the look of shock on Noah's face.

“You don't know anything about Luke and me.”

Reid just ignored him. “Doesn't matter than he blamed himself for what happened, doesn't matter than he bent over backwards trying to make it up to you – you still found ways to hurt him, to make him feel guilty and responsible. He didn't deserve that. No one deserves that.”

Reid was quite happy to – and fully intended to – continue his tirade but when his ears picked up the familiar slap of shoes on linoleum flooring, he turned to see Luke sprinting into view.

“Reid!” he called, breathless, slowing his pace when he saw who was standing next to him. “Noah,” he said awkwardly.

Recognising Luke's voice, Noah faced him. “Come to defend your boyfriend?” he said sarcastically, as security finally decided to stroll around the corner. “Well don't worry, he's not worth my time.” Looking Luke up and down, he snorted. “And neither are you.”

Seeming to be finished – finally – Noah started storming away. Luke, who'd never seen a problem he wouldn't try to fix, reached out a careful hand as Noah walked past. “Noah...”

“Don't _touch_ me!” Noah yelled, shoving him away, making Luke stumble and Reid watched it happen, almost like it was in slow motion as Luke fell to the floor and his brain just...

Blacked out.

He didn't remember moving.

He didn't remember making a conscious decision to do anything at all.

He just knew that, between one moment and the next, he had Noah Mayer pressed up against the desk at the nurses station, bending him backwards, his forearm pressing against Noah's chest to hold him in place.

“Reid!” Luke shouted, grabbing at Reid's arm but all he could see, all he could focus on was Noah Mayer's smug little face.

“You don't touch him,” Reid warned, pushing down harder, revelling at the look of fear on Noah's face. “You _never_ touch him again.”

He let go, then, because he'd more than made his point, grinning as Noah stumbled away and...

Luke was staring at him, wide-eyed. In fact, as he looked around he realised everyone was. Including Frank, the security guy, who looked like he couldn't decide if he should taser Reid or run screaming.

Blinking, Reid thought over what had just happened, focused on what he'd actually just done and the pettiness of Noah Mayer and...

So much for the werewolf thing being a lot easier to deal with than he'd thought.

“Yeah,” he admitted, “I'm probably gonna need a lawyer.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soap opera-style police procedure *thumbs up*
> 
> Thank you, thank you, for any and all feedback <3

Luke had dragged Reid away almost immediately, making the smart choice of taking them to Reid's apartment rather than back to the Snyder townhouse. There was every possibility that his mom would still be there interrogating Crista, and arriving there with an agitated Reid in tow who'd just attacked the ex she was particularly fond of...well. That probably would've destroyed any chance of Reid ever learning to get on with her. Personally, that didn't bother Reid one iota but, for Luke's sake, he knew that he and Lily were going to have to start tolerating each other.

Eventually. At some point.

The door to his apartment burst open as they stumbled inside. In the moments after he'd attacked Noah, when he'd realised what he'd done, he'd been...calm. Surprised, definitely, but cool and collected.

But even as the nurses started whispering to each other, even as Luke started asking if he was okay, even as Frank decided to take another coffee break, Reid's mind had snapped back to the moment a furious Noah had pushed Luke away. The moment Luke had fallen to the ground, shock etched on his features.

Reid couldn't get it out of his head. It kept playing, over and over again like one of Noah's crappy little movies. How _dare_ Noah treat Luke that way? How could he even think of doing that to the man he claimed to love?

And he knew, Reid knew, that he was overreacting, being overemotional – _him_ – but that didn't help, didn't calm him down as his rage at Noah Mayer just kept spiralling out of control.

It was all too fucking typical.

“Reid,” Luke said urgently as he shut the door behind them. “Do you need anything?”

“It's my own fault,” Reid answered, not actually answering anything as he peeled off his jacket, throwing it onto the sofa. “I knew better. I live _here_ , in this freaking town, but earlier I actually started believing that I was...coping because I'm good at everything, right?”

“I know,” Luke told him and didn't even seem to be joking. “You are.”

Reid started pacing around the apartment. “Started to think I was a natural at the werewolf stuff, that I was going to be _fine_ because I'm Reid Oliver, I can do anything. But then I saw Noah push you over and it became abundantly clear I have no control whatsoever.”

Face softening into something gentle, Luke moved towards him. “Reid...”

He saw it in his head, again, Luke falling to the ground and suddenly he was in front of him, patting his body down. “Are you hurt? Did he _hurt_ you?” There were no obvious abrasions or contusions, but any signs of injury were likely to be under his clothes anyway. Reid thought he could smell bruising, and being able to smell bruises was a thing now? But then blood had a smell, didn't it, and bruising was just broken capillaries beneath the surface of the skin releasing blood and as he pawed at Luke's clothing to try and check, to try and _see_ , he thought maybe it wasn't so crazy, maybe he really could smell-

“Reid!”

Luke's hands were on either side of his face, forcing his head back up. “I'm fine,” Luke stated firmly. “But you need to try and calm down.”

“I know, I know,” and he did, “but it's like it is at night time, I can't _stop_.”

“Then do what you do at night time,” Luke told him. “Follow your instincts.”

So Reid did just that, throwing his arms around Luke, burying his face against Luke's neck and just drinking his smell in.

It worked almost instantly. Reid's entire body just _relaxed_ , and his constant need to keep moving, to always be doing something just...dissipated.

“Note to self,” Reid said into Luke's neck, “Luke smell is _awesome_.” But even as Luke chuckled, rubbing a hand across his back, Reid was starting to think clearly again and knew how screwed up, how dangerous this was. Feeling more...'normal', Reid forced himself to lift his head from Luke's amazing-smelling neck, though it was incredibly difficult to do so. “What are you even doing here?”

“What do you mean?” Luke scrunched his face up. “Helping you through this, obviously-”

“What you should be doing is running for the hills,” Reid said truthfully. “I know what kind of man you are, that you're always determined to help, but this is not something that anyone other than me should have to deal with.”

“Didn't we talk about choice the other day?” Luke asked rhetorically. “About how what I want should come first? Well, this is it.”

Reid snorted. “Because you're clearly a crazy person.”

“Never said otherwise.”

Now that they were trying this Reid knew that he'd never really be able to push Luke away, not only because of how he felt about him but also because Luke was right – it was his choice and Reid respected it. He did, however, need to make him aware of all the facts. “It's not even the werewolf thing,” Reid said, then amended that with, “not entirely.” At Luke's confused expression, he continued. “When I was pushing Noah down onto that desk, he looked terrified and I...enjoyed it. Hell, I revelled in it. The werewolf crap is enhancing that side of me, too.” Licking his lips, he held Luke's gaze. “That's who I am. That's the kind of man you're saying you want to be with.”

Tipping his head to one side, Luke didn't seem bothered at all. “Reid, I knew this about you already.”

Reid blinked. “You did?”

Luke was definitely patronising him right now. “Think about the way you talk to, well, everyone. You enjoy hurting people. Usually with your words, yes, but the point remains the same. You love getting those little digs in, those barbs that just ruin someone's day.”

All of that was true, yes. But... “And this is the man you want to be in a relationship with?”

“Well it's not the only part of you,” he pointed out. “And, you know, I'm not the goody two-shoes that some in this town see me as,” Luke informed him. “I'm a Walsh. I'm a Grimaldi. I've done so many things I'm ashamed of, but part of me...enjoyed doing them.” He held Reid's gaze and didn't look particularly ashamed in that moment. “We all have those darker sides, our darker impulses. If I'm really honest...” He looked off to one side, thinking something over. “Yeah,” he said eventually, “I enjoyed what you did to Noah, too. After so long of doing every single thing I could think of to try and make him happy and having it thrown in my face, again and again...” Nodding, he focused back on Reid. “I did a lot of thinking about what you said after Dallas. That I deserved better. And I decided you were right. So if you're going to push me away when I'm trying to help you, just like Noah did-”

“Not pushing you away,” Reid promised, “just making sure you know exactly what you're getting into.”

“Well I can't say, given this unique situation, that either one of us really knows exactly what we're getting into.” Which was a fair point. “But I can say, absolutely, that this is what I want. This is my choice.”

And what could Reid say to that? He'd suspected for some time now that he couldn't deny Luke anything, and he wasn't a good enough man to keep arguing that Luke should run and never look back. “Definitely a crazy person.”

Luke didn't deny it, smiling a little. “The funny thing is, I don't even know why but watching how you dealt with Noah at the hospital was the thing that finally helped me realise that I had nothing to fear from you. I know you'd never hurt me like that – physically, emotionally. I have nothing to fear from any part of you,” he said sincerely, touching the side of Reid's face. “Not even the wolfy parts.”

And Reid may have been growing as a person – werewolf, whatever – but he just couldn't help himself. “Oh my God, of course you're into bestiality.”

“Reid!” Luke laughed, shocked and delighted.

“I knew there had to be something,” Reid 'admitted' as Luke shook his head at him. “You're one of the only sane people in this town. There had to be something wrong with you eventually. I mean,” Reid pretended to consider it just to keep the smile on Luke's face, “I suppose it's better than running a cult...setting someone up for first-degree murder...marrying a woman you barely know, ignoring all of your boyfriend's needs and wishes...” Yeah, he'd definitely heard about that one.

“ _Reid_.”

Luke's phone went off. Disappointed, the two of them reluctantly stepped back from each other as Luke checked who was calling. “It's Margo.”

That didn't come as a surprise. “Great,” Reid drawled. “The Fuzz.”

Answering the call, Luke brought the phone up to his ear. “Hey, Margo.” There was some nodding and general agreement before Luke glanced over to Reid. “Yeah. He's...calm enough.”

Reid just raised his eyebrows at him.

When Luke finally ended the call with an, “Okay, see you soon,” his next words didn't come as a surprise either. “Margo would like us to come down to the station.”

“Of course she does.”

“It seems...” he hesitated. “Noah went straight there after leaving the hospital to make a complaint.”

“Of course he did. And did he tell anyone there that he attacked you first?”

“She didn't say,” Luke shrugged, pocketing his phone, “and I wouldn't say attacked-”

“It was assault,” Reid said in a tone of voice that brooked no argument. “What he did to you.”

That seemed to be sinking in with Luke for the first time, who looked contemplative for a few moments. “I guess it was. Anyway,” he shook it off, because God forbid Luke focus on himself for a while, “we're talking about 'that' again and I know how much it got to you earlier. Are you calm enough to see Margo or-?”

“Might as well head out now,” Reid told him. “Seems _Eau De Snyder_ has just what it takes to soothe the savage beast.”

Luke grinned at how ridiculous he was being. “Maybe I should ask Mom if I can get in on her and Carly's perfume business.”

“Just make sure you get your cut of the profits,” Reid said seriously. “Don't let her rip you off just because she's family.”

Apparently taken aback, Luke turned all...mushy. “I love that.”

Reid thought back on what he'd just said and was honestly at a loss. “Love what?”

“That you look out for me.” Luke did that thing where he looked at Reid from under his eyelashes which...really? How was any man supposed to resist that? “Even when we're joking around,” Luke continued, “you still think about that. Think about what's best for me.”

Well of course he did. Wasn't that how it was supposed to work? “I'm not an imbecile. I may not have a lot of first hand experience at this,” he gestured between them, “boyfriend thing, but that's like Numero Uno, right?”

“You'd think,” Luke said wryly.

“Wow,” Reid said dramatically, “Noah Mayer was an even worse boyfriend than I'd imagined. I didn't think that was possible.”

Luke shook his head at him, unable to hide his smile. “You're so bad.”

“Hey, you just got through telling me that you like it when I'm bad.”

“That I did,” Luke conceded.

Reid studied him for a few moments, trying to unravel the mystery that was Luke Snyder. Most of Luke's reactions and emotions were easy to determine – he showed it all without fear. But sometimes... “You know you make no sense to me at all, right?”

“Why's that?”

“I say this stupid, simple thing – a joke, really – about a business deal that's not even happening and you get all...emotional.” Now that he'd started, Reid realised he had more he needed to say, needed to make sure of. “But when I'm trying to actually protect you by suggesting that, perhaps, being with me is not the smartest move given that I'm still adjusting to being The Wolfman, you don't think I'm being awesome, you hand me my ass.”

“Because I know your fear that you'll hurt me is ridiculous.”

“But how could you possibly-”

“Because I know you, Reid,” Luke argued, grabbing his forearms. “I may not know all of you yet, and I want to know more,” he grinned, “but I know the important parts. Being violent is not in your nature.”

“And yet look at what I did to Noah this afternoon, when the moon wasn't even out. The guy's not exactly on my Christmas card list-”

“You actually send Christmas cards?”

Reid ignored him. “But I never thought I'd attack him before, either.”

“Sure,” Luke nodded, “but that only happened because he hurt me.” He held Reid's gaze, utterly certain. “Right?”

No point in denying it. “Well, obviously.”

Nodding, Luke slid his hands along Reid's arms as if reassuring him. “You weren't randomly violent for no reason. You were defending me. It was all very romantic,” he teased.

“That's me,” Reid said, “Oakdale's Boyfriend of The Year, 2010.”

“Yep,” Luke agreed warmly. “beat out all the competition.”

“Like that was a challenge.”

“So,” Luke announced, stepping away, “you need to stop doubting yourself-”

“That's funny coming from you.”

Luke narrowed his eyes at him in warning. “And we should head to the station. You ready?”

“Yeah,” Reid sighed, patting his pockets to make sure he had his keys, “let's get this over with.”

*

Thanks to the divine intervention of whatever Gods did or didn't exist – or maybe life was just cutting him a break for once – Noah wasn't at the station when they arrived.

Oakdale PD looked exactly the same as the last time he'd been there. Also just like last time, Margo Hughes was waiting for them.

“Luke, Dr Oliver,” she greeted. “Thanks for coming down. Let's take this in my office,” she offered, opening the door to the room in question.

“Not interrogation?” Reid asked as they followed her in, because he'd half-expected to have the cuffs snapped on his wrists the moment he'd set foot in the station. Frankly, Reid had wanted to follow his own advice from earlier and contact a lawyer, but Luke had said that Margo assured him that neither one of them was in any trouble. Reid knew better than to think any cop was on your side, but...well. This _was_ Oakdale.

“Doctor, based on what I've heard already, I'm doing everything I can to make sure nobody gets charged with anything.” Reaching her desk, she perched on the edge. “At the moment everything is extremely unofficial.”

“I appreciate that, Margo,” Luke said sincerely.

Detective Hughes, however, wasn't the sentimental type. “But if I feel like there's a real case here, against any of you-”

“I understand,” Luke replied. “You have to do your job.”

“Good. Well.” Standing, she moved around to her side of the desk and, as she sat down, gestured towards the pair of seats on the other side. “If you'd close the door and like to take a seat, we can get-”

“Luke,” a voice interrupted and they all turned to see Jack Snyder rushing into the room. “Sorry, Margo,” Jack threw the apology at her before focusing back on Luke. “I heard what happened.”

“This town works fast,” Reid remarked.

“Are you alright?” Jack demanded, putting his hand on Luke's shoulder. “I can't believe Noah would do something like that.”

“I'm fine,” Luke assured him, “it's really not that big of a deal.”

Reid snorted. “What?” He said when they all looked at him. “He assaulted Luke, that is a big deal.”

“Well, Noah's also saying that you assaulted him,” Margo pointed out, “so I guess we'll see. Jack,” she paused, taking in his determined expression. “I'm guessing you want in on this one?”

“Luke's family,” Jack said in response, which Margo took as confirmation.

“Well, if it's alright with the two of you...” Waiting until Luke and Reid both nodded, she continued. “Okay, close the door and join us, Jack. But if, at any point, you let your emotions get the better of you-”

Jack held up his hands. “I promise that, if I see Noah, I will not punch him in the face. Even if I really want to.”

Reid was beginning to think that maybe there was another Snyder he should be hanging out with.

Then he began to realise that he was clearly going native.

After they were all settled – Jack in the corner of the room, leaning against a filing cabinet – Margo began.

“Well, first things first – how are you feeling, Doctor?”

Surprised, Reid stared at her. “In general, or...? Because I'm actually pretty hungry right-”

“After your attack a few days ago,” Margo clarified. “I hope you've made a full recovery.”

“Oh, that,” Reid said, not even glancing at Luke in case that somehow gave something away. Although how Margo Hughes would make the leap from _someone attacked me_ to _I'm a werewolf now_ was anyone's guess. “Good as new. Could even say I'm a new man.” He decided to stop there because while Reid may have liked to entertain himself, even he knew he was pushing it.

“I'm glad to hear it,” Margo said, before following with a sigh. “I'm afraid to say we've made little headway in identifying your assailant.”

“As expected,” Reid nodded, not meaning it as an insult. “And I'm not even saying that because you're a small town police department with budget constraints, limited numbers and little in the way of resources.”

“Reid...” Luke glared at him.

“I'm being nice!”

“Thank you, Dr Oliver,” Margo said in a voice that could've cut glass. “And while I appreciate the sentiment, perhaps you should leave being nice to the professionals?”

If she insisted. This was why Reid was never nice to anyone. Except Luke. “Your loss.”

“We'll cope,” she said smartly. “Let's move on to today.” Glancing at her notes to clarify something, she continued speaking. “About an hour ago, Noah Mayer came in to make a complaint that you physically assaulted and threatened him.”

Reid held up a finger. “Technically I never threatened him.” He thought he heard Jack stifling a laugh behind them.

“Dr Oliver,” Margo sighed wearily, “for your own benefit, please let me get through this without interrupting.”

Taking in her expression and – more importantly – Luke's expression, Reid shifted in his chair. “Yeah, okay. You...do your thing.”

“Thank you,” she enunciated clearly. “As I said, Noah made a complaint, gave us his version of events.” No doubt based on whatever alternate reality Noah was currently living in. “So then I called my father-”

“Of course you...” Margo glared at him “...never mind.”

“Even if he isn't a witness, he is the Chief of Staff at the hospital where the incident took place. Dad had already heard about the incident, and was very clear about the fact that everyone who spoke to him confirmed that Noah assaulted Luke before you ever touched him.”

“They...really?” The people at Memorial actually told the truth?

“Well it is what happened, Reid,” Luke encouraged.

“Well, yeah, you and I know that, but everybody at Memorial hates me. I thought they wouldn't hesitate to dump me in it.”

“Not everybody,” Luke said fondly, knocking their hands together. “And this proves what I was talking about the other day – you have to have faith in people because, sometimes, they surprise you in the best way possible.”

Reid wasn't buying it. “And sometimes they just take advantage.”

“Lucky for you, Dr Oliver,” Margo told them, drawing their attention, “this time it worked out Luke's way. Now, as this is all still...unofficial, I did not take a formal statement from Noah and I haven't had time to take statements from any witnesses anyway. As you seem to be corroborating the information Dad gave me – and that you were defending Luke – I'm going to strongly suggest to Noah that he leave this whole thing alone.”

It was like Luke's whole body sighed in relief. “Thank you so much, Margo.”

Smiling faintly, she shook her head. “Don't thank me yet. I don't want to delve into your personal business too much, but Noah said this all started because you 'stole' Luke from him?” Margo made a face as she said it, as if she knew how ridiculous it sounded.

Reid was sick of that phrase already. “Oh my God, you cannot steal a human being.” He paused. Thought about it. “Unless you kidnap them. Which I didn't do.”

“But you and Luke are dating, correct?”

“We are,” Luke confirmed. “But that only started recently, long after Noah and I broke up. We didn't do anything wrong.”

“And I'm not trying to suggest you did,” Margo promised, “I just need to check all the facts. Okay,” she continued, “so you told Noah earlier today that you and Dr Oliver are pursuing a romantic relationship?”

“I did,” Luke confirmed. “He wasn't...happy about it – at all – but I didn't realise what he was going to do until he started flagging down a cab.”

“And who saw him next?”

“I did, at Memorial,” Reid confirmed. “He walked in, grabbed a nurse – literally.” He was pleased to see Margo making a note of that. “Demanded to know where I was. Once he found me, he went to town – I stole Luke, I betrayed him, Luke betrayed him, wah wah waaah.”

Margo eyed him carefully. “Dr Oliver, without the colour, please.”

Right. “I was...me, so I wasn't as nice as I could've been, but I didn't do or say anything that I felt would've urged him on to violence. When Luke arrived, Noah left in a huff. Luke – don't ask me why, well, I know why, he's Luke – tried to make him feel better-”

“Reid,” Luke said.

“-and when Luke touched Noah's arm, Noah yelled at him and just...shoved him. Hard.”

Reid's mood had been sinking further and further the more he talked about it, the more he re-lived what'd happened. When he felt Luke's fingers thread through his own, he closed his eyes, exhaling heavily as he squeezed Luke's hand.

“Dr Oliver, if you need a moment-”

“I'd rather get it over with.” She probably thought he was finding it hard to cope because he was overemotional, but better for her to think that then realise he was finding it hard to cope because he was a _werewolf_.

“Very well. Is that how you remember it, Luke?”

“I...” Luke hesitated and Reid knew it was because Luke didn't want anybody to get in trouble, not even Noah. “Yes. Yes, that's what happened.”

“Okay,” Margo made some more notes. “Luke fell to the ground?” Reid nodded. “And you...reacted?”

Reid's mouth was dry. “I did.”

“Tell me about that.”

Luke's fingers squeezed his and Reid found he was able to speak, though he kept his head bowed. “I pushed him...back. Against the nurses station. Held him down. Told him not to touch Luke again.” Remembering something, he glanced up at Margo. “Never actually threatened him, though.”

“Only you,” Luke muttered. Finally meeting his gaze, Reid managed a small smile, tightening his grip on Luke's hand.

Margo was still making notes. “Anything else after that?”

Reid shook his head, beginning to find everything a little bit...easier. “I let him go. He left. Luke and I went back to my place. A while later we got the call from you.”

Nodding, Margo turned her attention elsewhere. “And are you okay, Luke?”

He seemed surprised. “Me?”

“Noah did push you over. Did you sustain any injuries?”

“I'm fine,” he insisted, before adding with a grin. “I actually think I might have a bruise on my butt-” Reid's head whipped around to face him, making Luke's grin vanish. “-and I forgot you weren't coping very well right now. I'm _fine_ , it's just a-”

“I knew it,” Reid hissed, “I knew I could smell – uh – tell that he'd hurt you.”

“And you're being over-dramatic.” Which was funny coming from Mr Luke Snyder himself.

“I don't think he is, Luke,” Margo said seriously, causing Luke to turn towards her. “If everything you're saying is true, then...Noah assaulted you. Injured you. And you have every right to file charges.”

Luke practically gaped at her. “Against Noah? But I know he never meant to hurt me.”

“Doesn't matter what he meant to do, kid,” Jack butted in, moving to stand at his other side. “What matters is what he ended up doing.”

“Which brings me to something else we should consider,” Margo told them.

Reid found himself studying her with new-found respect. “What's that?”

“Well, Luke was assaulted today by Noah Mayer. You were attacked a few nights ago by an unknown assailant.” Reid was starting to see where she was going with this. “Are you quite sure that your assailant the other night wasn't Mr Mayer? That he'd somehow already found out about your relationship with Luke and...”

Reid snorted, sharing a look with Luke at what had actually attacked him that night. “Yeah, no, it definitely wasn't Noah.”

Jack frowned. “How can you be so sure?”

“Noah Mayer can barely see five feet in front of his own face. It was after midnight, dark – there's no way he could've known it was me.”

Taking it all in, Margo nodded. “You're his doctor – or, you were. I'll take your word for it that he wouldn't have been able to identify you under those circumstances.”

“Believe me, my life would be a lot simpler if I had just been attacked by Noah the other night. But it wasn't him.”

“Very well.” Margo closed the folder she'd had open. “Well, thank you for your time gentlemen, that's all I need from you for the time being.”

“So, that's it?” Luke asked. “Everything's dealt with?”

Margo clasped her hands together on top of the desk. “Like I said, I'll strongly suggest to Noah that he drop this because if he does take legal action he may not like the results. And, Luke,” she said seriously, “I'm not going to pressure you – it's entirely your choice. But if this is something Noah's done before-”

“It isn't.”

“-or something you feel he may do again,” Margo continued deliberately. “It could be worth your while pursuing this. To make sure it never happens again.”

It went against all of Luke's instincts, Reid could tell, to actually sit there and consider officially reporting Noah to the police. He did it, though, and when he eventually said a serious, “I'll think about it,” Reid rubbed his fingers and smiled.

Not that he particularly wanted Noah to get arrested (lie) or face any consequences for assaulting Luke (another lie), but that Luke was breaking the habit of thinking the best of certain people.

Despite the way he argued with him, Reid didn't really want Luke to lose faith in people – it was a big part of what made Luke _Luke_. But right now he'd be lying if he didn't want Luke to lose all faith and respect he'd ever had in Noah Mayer.

As they made their way out of Margo's office, hands still joined together, Reid could hear Jack talking quietly behind them.

“You know what, Margo?”

“What's that, Jack?”

“I actually kind of dig that guy.”

*

They'd barely set foot outside the police station when Luke's phone went off again. This time it was Lily, and she'd heard all about what'd happened at the hospital.

From Noah.

“That's not what it was like at all, Mom,” Luke said into his phone as Reid blatantly eavesdropped. He was beginning to realise just how easily he could use his powers for evil.

“But Noah said that Reid assaulted him,” Lily rushed on. “Luke, is that really the type of man you should be in a relationship with? He could be dangerous.”

“Reid only did anything to Noah at all because Noah pushed me over first. If anyone's the dangerous one here, it's Noah.”

Lily actually balked at that one. “Noah...pushed you over? He didn't say anything about...oh my goodness, are you okay, sweetheart?”

“I'm fine, really,” Luke assured her. “We just got out from talking to Margo.”

“I can't believe he'd...” Lily paused. “Well, you said it happened so I know it must have. I'm sorry, honey. I had no idea that Noah could be that way.”

“Don't get me wrong,” Luke said, “I don't want you to think he's been doing that to me all this time, because he hasn't. But...there was a lot you don't know about Noah. There's a reason I told him it was final, when we broke up the last time.”

Lily, finally, seemed to be realising that. “I'm sorry if I haven't been there for you, if you haven't felt like you could talk to me about this.”

Luke thought about his response for a long time. “I'm not going to lie to you, Mom. Sometimes I wanted to but I stopped because you'd always end up comparing me and Noah to you and Dad and start talking about how we'd be together forever. And...it made me really uncomfortable.”

Whoa. Reid was actually shocked that Luke had gone there.

Lily sounded equally as shocked and was struggling to find the right response. “Luke, I...I don't know what to say. I never meant...” She cleared her throat. “But I did do it, and I need to deal with that. Maybe we should continue this in person?”

“Yeah, it's probably not great doing this over the phone,” Luke agreed, “but not right now, okay? I seriously have to get to work. I haven't been giving the Foundation or the hospital wing the attention they deserve. Been a little distracted,” he added, throwing a smile towards Reid to prove there were no hard feelings.

Reid wasn't bothered. Reid was proud. And impressed. And after Luke wrapped up the call, he told him so.

“You're impressed?” Luke asked. “What for?”

“You told her the truth. You didn't sugar coat it, didn't try to make her feel better about it. You just told her how it is. You're practically turning into me.”

“So that's why you're impressed,” Luke joked, nudging Reid with his elbow. “The last thing we need around here is two Reid Oliver's.”

“True, the world could not contain that much awesome.”

Grinning, Luke shook his head. “Anyway, my relationship with my mother isn't _that_ co-dependent...” Reid just stared at him. “Okay, so it is. But I'm working on it.”

Though Reid was pleased that he was – people taking advantage of Luke was not a thing that should ever be happening – it did get him thinking about co-dependency himself. “I guess I shouldn't be too tough on you.” At Luke's look, he continued. “Well, this. Between us. Has only really just started, and it's ridiculously co-dependent already. Thanks to,” he glanced around, “the growly stuff, I literally can't cope without you.”

Luke thought about it, tipping his head to one side. “It may have only just started officially,” he agreed, “but you were right when you said something had been building between us for a long time – even though I tried to deny it. I felt so guilty about Noah...” Reid stroked a hand down his arm until Luke managed a faint smile. “But the feelings were there for a long time. Have been there for a long time. And in any case,” he pressed on, moving into Reid's personal space, “in case you hadn't noticed, this co-dependency thing is working for me. It's _really_ working for me,” he repeated, eyes darkening as they fell to Reid's lips.

Like Reid couldn't tell. “Oh, I noticed.”

Letting the moment pass, Luke looked up at him with a small smile. “I don't want to keep comparing you to him, but...already, it's so much better than it ever was with Noah. Part of me still feels disloyal to him even saying that,” he admitted as he glanced away, “but there was so much I was unsure of with him, so much doubt. I was never really sure how he felt about anything, I never really felt like he cared about me as much as I cared about him and...it turned me into a needy mess. But with you.” He held Reid's gaze again, smiling. Touched the side of his face. “I know. No doubt – just clarity. Maybe it's because you're you, maybe it's because of your...monthly cycle.”

“Really?”

Luke just grinned and continued. “Or maybe it's both. And I'm sorry, truly sorry that any of this has ever made you uncomfortable, or forced you to reveal something that you didn't want – because yeah, that should always be your choice. But...”

“But?” Reid prompted.

“It's left me in no doubt about your feelings,” Luke admitted. “How deep they are. How far they go. And I know they're the same as mine. So, yeah,” he continued, “maybe we're co-dependent, but it works for me. Who knows? Maybe I was always meant to be in a relationship with a werewolf.”

And though Reid was undoubtedly pleased – something of an understatement – at Luke's confession, it still made him roll his eyes. Albeit with fondness. “Only in this town could anybody say that last sentence and actually mean it seriously.”

“C'mere,” Luke said, exasperated, and Reid was smiling when they kissed.

Luke did end up going to work. Reid went back to the apartment because even if they really were co-dependent, that still didn't mean they needed to spend literally every moment together.

Besides, it'd been another hectic day and Reid was pooped.

...he'd been hanging around Jacob too much, clearly.

Reid ate, dozed for a while, then ate some more. Deciding once again that this werewolf stuff was pretty awesome despite all the drama it'd brought him today, he smiled to himself when his phone dinged and he saw that Luke had messaged him.

_Can I come over to your place tonight?_

_Yes. The answer's always yes._ Then Reid added, _Dumbass._

Luke sent him the middle finger emoji.

Chuckling, Reid mused that they were clearly meant to be together. He'd thought it in passing, as a joke, but then he found himself seriously contemplating it. Even six months ago he would've been sickened at the very idea of being tangled up in a co-dependent relationship, at needing someone as badly as he needed Luke right now.

But the idea of Luke always being there, of the two of them facing everything life could throw at them together was...not horrible.

Shaking his head at himself, Reid started clearing away his plate.

When Katie arrived home with Jacob, Reid filled her in on everything that'd happened that day. Somehow the news hadn't reached her at WOAK, despite the fact that she worked with Bob's wife. Kim Hughes was probably so old-fashioned that she found gossip unseemly.

Throwing herself down onto the sofa, Katie cracked open a water bottle. “Wow, so Noah really flipped out, huh?”

“Apparently so,” Reid remarked, coming to sit next to her.

“I didn't know he had that side to him,” she confessed. “But then in all honesty, I haven't spoken to Noah in a long time. Everything happened with Brad and I just...” Lowering her head, her shoulders drooped.

Yeah, Reid knew first hand just how much Brad's death had affected her. He nudged her shoulder with his own. “That's normal, Blondie. You know that.”

“Yeah,” she said quietly, before visibly forcing herself to cheer up. “So!” Placing her bottle on the coffee table, she turned towards him. “Tell me again how brave Prince Reid rescued Prince Luke from his dastardly ex.”

Reid side-eyed her. “You need to get out more.”

“I used to say the same thing to you,” she told him, which, yeah – that was true. “And, anyway. I just want you and Luke to be happy.”

Reid knew that was only partially true. “What you want is to do your...thing.”

“My thing?”

“Your matchmaking thing,” he wiggled his fingers at her. “Which is pointless, because Luke and I are together already. And,” he interrupted as he saw Katie starting to open her mouth, “we don't need your advice.”

That didn't stop her. “But this is your first real relationship, right? I mean you'd told me you'd had other boyfriends-”

“What am I, twelve?”

“But nothing serious,” she concluded.

This was his own fault for ever telling her that in the first place. “That's...accurate.”

“And with Luke it's serious,” she said, certain.

After their conversation outside the Oakdale PD, it couldn't be anything but. “That's...also accurate.”

“Right, so you need me!” she enthused. “Relationships are my thing, Reid. Trust me, I know what I'm doing. Plus,” she leaned towards him a little, using her eyes. Reid thought her lower lip actually wobbled. “It makes me so happy, Reid.”

Ugh, Reid hated himself. “Fine.”

“Yes!” She threw her hands up.

He sighed. “I suppose I could stand to be less...”

“Obnoxious?”

“...me about it.” Holding up a finger, he then pointed it at Katie. “Only you, Luke and Jacob have this power over me. Don't abuse it.”

“I won't, I promise,” Katie insisted as she crossed herself, before jumping up from the sofa. “I'm gonna go start dinner. You eating?”

He said yes, of course, and it was sometime later when he was catching up on a Medical Journal that he finally had time to read that Katie started talking to him again.

“Hey, so,” she said from over the stove, “you know the sun set a while ago, right?”

Surprised, Reid blinked, looking over at her from the sofa. “It did?”

“Uh huh,” she confirmed. “And you're not being all...jittery.”

“I'm not,” he agreed, looking down at himself. Concentrating on his body, all he could decide was that he felt...normal. “Huh.” Completely and utterly normal. “My werewolf guru did say it'd only really affect me on and around the full moon.”

“So you're normal Reid again already?”

“Maybe,” he shrugged, because who the hell knew?

“As long as no one hurts your boyfriend,” she grinned over a spatula, because she was evil that way.

Reid just went back to his journal. “Still not twelve years old.”

He was saved from any more of Katie being Katie when he heard the elevator ding and footsteps approach on the carpeted floor outside. “Luke's here.” Throwing the journal onto the table, he stood up to let him in.

Katie sounded too pleased. “You can tell just from his footsteps?”

Reid ignored her, one, because he wanted to and, two, because he was still listening to the sounds outside the door and Luke was...sniffing? Yanking the door open, Reid's suspicions were confirmed when he saw Luke standing there with red, tear-ridden eyes.

“What happened?” he demanded, tugging Luke into the apartment.

“I'm fine,” Luke insisted with a smile as the door shut behind him, though he let Reid guide him towards the sofa. “These are good tears.”

What a ridiculous statement. “What does that even mean?”

Stopping Reid before he could actually force him to sit down, Luke cupped his hands over his shoulders. “It means that after work, Mom and I talked things out. And it went well,” he assured Reid, “it was just emotional.”

“Yeah?” Reid asked, lifting a hand to touch the side of Luke's face.

“Yeah,” Luke confirmed.

Okay, good. Luke was looking out for himself. That was probably worth a few tears. “I'm proud of you.”

“I know,” Luke said with a small smile.

“Aww,” Katie said to one side, making them turn towards her. Glancing back towards each other, they both rolled their eyes before separating.

“Hi, Katie,” Luke greeted, shoving his hands in his pockets as he meandered towards the kitchen. “Dinner smells good.”

“Thanks, Luke. You're welcome to join us. I always make extra because of Augustus Gloop over there.” She gestured towards Reid with her spatula.

“Hey!”

“I'm sorry about what happened with Noah,” she continued, ignoring Reid's completely justified outrage. “But I'm glad things worked out with your mom.”

“Thanks,” Luke said, picking up and fiddling with the salt shaker. “So, how's Jacob doing in-?”

He was interrupted by an energetic knock on the door. Surprised, they all looked at each other. Being the closest, Reid shrugged and was already moving to answer it when a female voice called from the other side.

“Luke Snyder, you open this door this very instant!”

Reid didn't recognise the voice, but Luke obviously did.

“ _Grandmother?_ ”

Reid didn't even get a chance to say anything, the moment he opened the door a whirlwind of expensive clothing swept inside, heading straight for Luke. From everything he'd heard, this had to be Lucinda Walsh.

“Darling,” she said forcefully, grabbing Luke's hand and staring into his eyes. “I heard what happened with Noah, are you alright? You should've called me.”

“I'm fine,” Luke assured her, though his still-watery eyes probably suggested otherwise, “and I didn't want to bother you with this. I don't need you to fix my problems.”

“Well of course not,” she sniffed. “You're a fine, capable, young man. I know you can handle anything. But you should have called me because I care about you. You are my favourite grandchild, after all – not that we should have favourites, but you know how it is.”

Yeah, Reid liked her already.

“Sorry,” Luke said, chagrined.

“Never apologise for who you are,” Lucinda told him, releasing his hand to softly bop him on the chin. “Then again,” she continued as she remembered something, “I can't believe I had to hear from someone else that you have a new beau.” Turning to face Reid, she studied him critically. “Dr Oliver, I take it?” She moved towards him, holding out a hand. “Lucinda Walsh.”

Realising he was still holding the door open, Reid finally closed it and took her hand. “Yeah, that much was obvious.”

“Ah, my reputation proceeds me,” she smirked, seeming amused. “Well, so does yours. I understand you're the one who showed Noah Mayer the error of his ways earlier today?”

“Yep, that was me.” Then felt compelled to add, “Mrs Walsh.”

“Oh, do call me Lucinda,” she insisted. “How tragic that you've been in town all this time and we've only just met. Although, knowing my grandson,” she glanced towards Luke, “he probably wanted to keep you to himself.”

Luke flushed. “Grandma...”

“All I'm saying is that you've traded up,” Lucinda stepped back towards him. “Barista to neurosurgeon is quite the step up. And there's no denying,” she looked Reid up and down, “quite the step up in the looks department as well.”

Okay, Reid definitely had a new favourite relative of Luke's.

...not that the competition had been particularly fierce.

“Now, Grandmother, that's not fair-”

“Darling,” she cupped Luke's face, “you know I never would've said a word against Noah when I thought he was a dear, sweet boy. He was your first love. The first time you could show the world who you really were. Had I known...” Sighing, she removed her hands. “Why did you never tell me how things really were?”

“I don't know,” Luke prevaricated, when he clearly did know. “I was embarrassed, I guess. Always thought everything was my fault, that it was something I was doing that was wrong. And to be honest, Grandma, we've both been so busy for so long, we haven't spoken to each other properly in ages.”

“Hmm,” she mused. “You're right, of course. Well, we must remedy this. From now on, we meet at least once a week. I'll put it on my schedule so we don't miss it.”

Luke seemed delighted. “That sounds great, Grandma. I'd love that.”

“Then we'll make sure it happens,” she indulged him. “And if you'd like to keep it just us, well that's absolutely fine. But if you'd like, your young man is welcome, too.” Pausing, she glanced towards Reid. “Though 'young' may be overstating it.”

Reid couldn't even be offended.

“Thank you. I'll think about it.”

“Good. Now,” Lucinda clasped her hands together, “how's our Grimaldi visitor working out?”

As they continued talking, Katie asked for help setting the table. Reid was just carrying the plates over when he heard,

“-felt safe with her there? You still have the gun I gave you, don't you?”

Reid dropped the plates on the table with a loud thunk.

“Yes, I do, although I still can't believe you gave me that thing in the first place.”

Reid swung around, interrupting. “You gave him a what now?”

“It's not loaded,” Luke shot back. “Grandmother wanted me to have it, just in case.”

“A precaution, that's all, so Luke could at least appear threatening should anything untoward happen. Luke insisted that he stay in the house with Crista alone to 'build trust', so I insisted on this.” Even Luke's grandmother, awesome as she appeared, had been infected by the lunacy in this town.

It took Reid a few moments to process all of that, after which he turned back towards the table, shaking his head. “He's gonna give me a heart attack before I'm forty.”

“So, in just a few months then?” Lucinda teased, which made Katie laugh into the silverware drawer.

“Are you staying for dinner, Lucinda?” Katie offered afterwards.

“Appetising as it looks,” she replied in a tone of voice that suggested anything but, “I'll have to pass. Now, before I go,” Lucinda focused back on Luke. “Is there anything I need to do? About Noah.”

Reid was pretty damn sure she meant in the _ruin his entire life_ way rather than the _get the kid into therapy_ way.

“No. Like I said,” Luke spoke firmly, “I'm dealing with it.”

“If you're sure,” she conceded, though to Reid she looked a little disappointed. Then, spinning to face Reid, she reached into a pocket and held out a business card. “Dr Oliver.”

“Reid.”

“Reid,” she acknowledged. “You need anything. Any time. Anywhere. You call this number.”

It was obvious, to Reid at least, what that offer was worth. And how much faith she was putting in him by making it. “Thank you,” he said sincerely, because he could do that, sometimes. “I'll try to be...” he held up the card, “...worthy of this.”

“Yes,” she narrowed her eyes. “I imagine you will.”

She swept out of the room as quickly as she'd entered, and as the door slammed shut behind her, Reid turned towards the others feeling dazed.

“Is she always like that?”

Coming over to help with the dishes, Luke shrugged. “Grandmother's always been a little intense.”

“A little?” It was easy to see where Luke's love of the dramatic came from.

Chuckling, Luke adjusted a fork. “You're lucky she likes you.”

Yeah, Reid was getting that impression. Holding Lucinda's business card up, he made a mental note to keep it in an extremely safe place.

*

A few hours later, Katie and Jacob had already bedded in for the night – now it was his and Luke's turn. It'd turned into a nice evening, despite everything that'd come before. They'd eaten dinner, watched some bad TV and just enjoyed each other's company (Reid actually had people now, whose company he enjoyed. _Multiple_ people).

And the entire time, Reid had felt completely and utterly normal.

Flicking off the overhead light, Luke had obviously noticed the same thing as he paused at the side of the bed. “So, I can't help but notice that nothing seems out of the ordinary tonight. I didn't want to say anything earlier in case I jinxed it, but everything seems...normal. You seem normal.”

“I feel normal,” Reid agreed, putting the journal he was reading aside. “Honestly, right now I feel exactly the same as the person I was before Crista went all Wolverine on me.”

“Well, she did say it was only really the nights closest to the full moon that you'd be affected. And we are moving further away from that...” He tipped his head to one side. “This is good,” Luke enthused, sitting on the edge of the bed, facing him “Right?”

“Oh, undoubtedly,” Reid confirmed. “I guess it's just my own expectations getting to me.”

“What do you mean?”

“When I first realised what I'd become – and even since – I just thought it would be...more.” Seeing that Luke still didn't get it, he tried to explain. “I mean, what did I get out of this really? A bit of strength, a few stronger emotions, some stronger senses? It's just...”

“Disappointing,” Luke concluded. “Why, Dr Oliver,” he teased, “are you actually telling me that you wanted all that drama?”

“Forget I said anything,” Reid sighed, reaching for the journal again.

“Okay, okay, I'll stop,” Luke promised, batting the journal from Reid's hands as he crawled next to him. “I think it makes sense, honestly.”

Clearly he'd been thinking about this. “What does?”

“It can't be particularly hard to live as a werewolf, or we'd all know about them. They can't have survived hundreds of years – maybe even thousands – if it's that hard to control themselves. They have to blend in, so logic dictates that it's easy to pass as human. And like Crista said, it's not how it is in the movies.”

Reid mused the theory over. “That actually makes sense.”

“In any case,” Luke continued, “with you being turned and not born – so you'll never fully change – I don't even really think of you as a werewolf.”

Huh. “You don't?”

“Nope,” Luke said. “More like...human plus.”

Shaking his head, though smiling, Reid started reaching for the lamp next to his bed. “Well, this human plus needs to get some rest because it's been an exhausting day.”

“Definitely been a long one,” Luke agreed, scrambling to get under the covers.

They fit easily together, as they had the night before. Sometime later, in the darkness, Luke started speaking.

“It's sad, you know.”

Reid ran a hand over his back. “What is?”

“Noah. The way it ended.” He sighed. “When I was first...sorting everything out in my head, after I took him up on the roof of the hospital – you were a major ass about that, by the way.”

“You took a patient recovering from brain surgery out of the hospital without permission.”

“Uh huh.” Luke didn't sound convinced.

Reid gave in. “And I was jealous.”

“I know that _now_ ,” Luke stated, like it was obvious. “Before, I kept asking myself how he could've changed so much, how he could've transformed into this man who treated me so badly. But after that talk on the roof I started to realise...he hadn't changed. He'd never changed. That was the way he'd always been and...I just couldn't see it.”

Reid's throat was starting to feel suspiciously tight. “Sometimes we only see what we want to see.” Leaning towards him, he pressed a kiss to Luke's shoulder.

Sighing next to him, Luke shifted in place. “I think I was so desperate for someone, anyone, to love me, that I just accepted it. I thought that was the best I was ever going to get.”

“Know better now,” Reid joked, because otherwise he was going to turn all mushy himself.

“I do,” Luke said seriously, rolling onto his side to meet Reid's gaze. “Thank you.”

That was completely unnecessary. “You really don't need to-”

“Yes, Reid, I do,” Luke insisted. “You were the first person – the _only_ person – who told me that the way Noah was treating me wasn't right. That I deserved better. My friends, my family – okay, maybe they didn't know every single thing that went on with me and Noah, but they'd seen enough. And every time they'd encourage us back together, go on about how we were meant for each other – I talked about that a lot with Mom, tonight.” He paused for a moment. “And I know they all love me and want me to be happy, but...I guess you're right,” Luke sighed again, “sometimes, people only see what they want to see.”

Reid really didn't know what to say. Here he was, watching this incredible man slowly picking apart the years of enabling and conditioning that'd stopped him from ever really being happy.

And then he did know what to say. “You're amazing, you know that?”

Grinning, Luke rolled further towards him, throwing his arm across Reid's body. “I'm loving this mutual appreciation society we've got going on.”

Reid pressed his nose to Luke's head. “Think we should get t-shirts?”

“As long as they're personalised,” Luke joked, before the humour faded and he admitted something else. “I'm not gonna press charges.”

Reid nodded once. “Okay.”

“But you already knew that.”

It wasn't a surprise. “I did.”

“But, at the moment,” Luke continued, “I'm kind of hoping I never have to see Noah again.”

“If that's what you want,” Reid said honestly, “we'll do everything we can to make that possible.”

Luke's hand moved, coming up to touch Reid's face in the darkness. “You're amazing too, you know.”

Reid scoffed. “If you say so.”

“I do say so, because it's true. Now,” he shifted again, clearly settling in for the night. “I'm gonna try and sleep. Because – you're right. It has been an extremely long day.”

Reid couldn't argue with that and really didn't want to. They both shifted a bit more until they found positions they'd both be able to sleep in, and then Reid let out a long breath and finally closed his eyes.

*

The next time Reid opened his eyes, it was to see Luke staring at him from the other side of the bed.

“Shouldn't I be the creepy stalker half of this relationship?” he asked, voice rough.

“Why's that?”

“Well, I'm the one who's the werewolf. Shouldn't I be following you around everywhere and staring at you creepily while you sleep?”

“Yeah,” Luke began, tone of voice indicating that he was drawing certain conclusions, “you've definitely seen Twilight.”

Reid was in a good mood, so decided to give him that much. “There...may have been a patient.”

“I knew it!” Luke crowed.

“She was just a kid,” Reid smiled, remembering Jennifer. “And, God knows why, but she was into those books and then the movie. I never had any idea what she was going on about.”

“So you watched the movie.”

“I managed to see about half...”

“Of the first one?”

“There are _more?_ ”

“Two or three I think, at this point.”

Reid shook his head. “Anyway, it became abundantly clear that Jennifer's parents were completely screwing up their job if they thought letting her see that crap was going to do her future relationships any good, but...”

“At least you knew what she was talking about,” Luke finished.

“Mostly.” He'd never forget the first time he was able to respond to her constant dialogue about Twilight with a comment that showed he actually knew what he was talking about. “She was so happy when I was able to talk about it – even though I disagreed with every single thought she had about the movie, that didn't matter to her.”

Luke's grin was enormous. “Who did she like better?”

“Huh?”

“Jacob or Edward?”

Reid honestly couldn't remember which was which. There was certain information he forgot on purpose and this ranked right up there. “Uh, the vampire?”

“Ugh,” Luke joked, leaning closer, “werewolves are so much hotter.”

“That was actually clever-” And then Luke was kissing him, so Reid decided to shut up.

Tragically, Luke pulled back almost immediately and started speaking rapidly. “You're still feeling normal, right? You're not feeling...compromised...emotionally?”

Reid frowned at him. “Yeah, I still feel fine-”

Suddenly he had great handfuls of a horny and enthusiastic Luke Snyder. Reid, however, had always prided himself on being a quick learner and caught up with Luke's plan in no time at all.

“Off, off,” Luke demanded, straddling his body as he tugged at the buttons on Reid's pajama top, which he'd only worn the night before out of deference to Luke's sensibilities.

Apparently, Luke's _former_ sensibilities.

But, much as Reid was enjoying the kiss, and then the next kiss, and then the fact that his top had disappeared somewhere on the other side of the room, there was something he needed to say.

“Wait wait wait,” he said breathlessly, hands braced on Luke's thighs and, _Jesus_ , Luke panting over him was a thing of beauty.

“What?” Luke demanded.

“Are you sure? Really sure?” he asked, too seriously, betting that Luke wouldn't notice the act. “I'm a werewolf now, we don't really know what that means, sexually.” Luke looked like he was actually considering it. “I mean...” Reid continued, pretending to think about it. “I could have...a monster werewolf dick.” Luke broke out into a surprised laugh. “Maybe I'll pop a knot, I could get you pregnant!”

Even as he was still laughing, Luke was shifting off of him. “That's it, we're officially never having sex.”

Reid just tugged him back, knowing that was a lie, before pushing Luke onto his back. They grinned at each other and Reid had honestly never been happier in his entire life than he was in that moment.

“I hate you,” Luke said, all smiles.

“I hate you, too,” Reid agreed, “now come here and sit on my monster werewolf dick.” He couldn't even get through to the end of the sentence without laughing himself, watching as Luke covered his face with a hand as his whole body shook with laughter.

It wasn't perfect. Their breath was funky and they both came too soon (but came again later), the lube bottle exploded courtesy of Reid's new werewolf strength and they spent half their time trying not to laugh.

Luke thanked him afterwards, though, for showing him how it was meant to be.

And Reid decided he was right. It wasn't perfect, because nothing about life was perfect.

But it was the way it was meant to be.


	5. Chapter 5

“I hate myself,” Luke said a couple of hours later, when he was already dressed and Reid was busy 'persuading' him to play hooky – in that he had Luke pressed up against the wall and his hand down Luke's pants.

“You're the one who insisted on going to work,” Reid reminded him, enthralled by the hitches in Luke's breath and the way he kept biting his lower lip as Reid carefully stroked his dick.

“Already...late,” Luke licked his lips, “still trying to...” his hands flew up to cover his face, “oh my _God_.”

“You called?” Reid joked, but this was honestly torturing him almost as much as it was torturing Luke.

One thing Reid had discovered since having sex with Luke, was how incredibly responsive he was. It hadn't been a particular surprise given that he was _Luke_ and that Noah had been his only other lover, but it'd proven to Reid that, when it came to sex, Noah simply hadn't been doing his job properly.

Which also wasn't a particular surprise.

And, yes, Reid could've been kind about it. He had years more experience than Noah, no doubt much more experience at fucking other guys. He'd never struggled with his sexuality the way Noah had, had always been comfortable with that part of himself.

But no one had ever accused Reid of being kind.

So the vindictive side of him – those darker impulses Luke had talked about – delighted at every single one of Luke's reactions, at his obvious shock at how good it was, at just how much pleasure Reid was making him feel.

And, after a particularly wicked twist of his wrist threw Luke into overdrive, Reid could only feel honoured that he got to see it at all.

“Ohmigod,” Luke gasped urgently, hands scrabbling at Reid's shoulders, nails digging into his bare skin, “you gotta stop, you gotta stop-”

Reid removed his hand immediately. “You need me to stop?”

Luke's eyes, which had been scrunched shut in pleasure, snapped open in disappointment. “No,” he glared, which only made Reid smirk at his obvious frustration. “It's just I need to wear these pants out of here, I don't want to come all over-”

“Not a problem,” Reid interrupted, as he sank to his knees for an obvious fix. Tugging Luke's pants and boxers completely out of the way, he went to town on Luke's dick. While he'd become well-acquainted with said dick already, he hadn't had the distinct pleasure of sucking it yet.

He barely had the chance to suck it now, because Luke really was close. Reid just had time to cover the head of Luke's dick with his mouth when Luke grunted and his mouth was suddenly flooded with come.

Reid didn't care at all as Luke sagged against the wall, legs trembling, because he got to swallow Luke's come, every single drop of it. And he enjoyed it – which. Must've been a wolf thing, he realised, because while he'd definitely swallowed come and been pleased that he'd satisfied a sexual partner before, it'd never been a particularly pleasant taste.

And that wasn't the only wolf thing, he discovered, because down here Luke's smell was _intoxicating_ and it drove Reid a little crazy as he forced Luke's legs further apart and shoved his head into Luke's groin, desperately trying to get his nose behind Luke's balls.

“Okay, then,” Luke said, but didn't try to stop him, carefully resting his hands on Reid's head. When Reid hit pay dirt, finally getting his nose exactly where he wanted it, he was so far gone from the smell and watching Luke already that it only took a few tugs of his own dick until he was coming and coming and coming.

In the aftermath, Reid caught his breath with his head resting against Luke's groin, because why not? He smelled amazing.

“So,” Luke gasped eventually, “that's a thing.”

Licking his lips, Reid regretfully moved his head away and got to his feet. “That's a thing.”

Reaching for his clothes, Luke started tugging his pants back up. “You know you nearly came on my pants anyway, right?”

“What a shame that would've been.” Reid grinned at Luke's mock-glare. Knowing he still had come on his hand, Reid had to fight the urge to rub it into Luke's skin and settled for rubbing it on his own, spreading the come across his abdomen. It wouldn't be as good as Luke wearing his scent – or vice versa, for that matter – but at least it was proof that he'd come because of Luke.

Pausing, he realised exactly what he was doing, why he was doing it, and looked up to meet Luke's surprised stare.

Luke, who wasn't running out of the room in disgust. “I'm assuming that's something New Reid's into as well...?”

“Yeah,” he confirmed.

“Okay,” Luke nodded, before admitting, “I should probably find that gross, but I...” he met Reid's gaze, “ _really_ don't.”

If Reid had been capable of getting hard again so soon, that would've done it.

After sharing a particularly filthy, come-stained kiss, Luke finally tore himself away and stumbled out of the apartment.

Reid threw himself, naked, onto the bed and moped for a little while (though it anyone ever asked, that wasn't what happened). Eventually his stomach started rumbling, so after dragging himself out of bed, barely making himself presentable and tugging on a pair of pajama bottoms, Reid headed towards the kitchen for sustenance.

Katie was still there, which was a surprise. “You're here late,” he remarked as he grabbed an apple and fished a small, sharp knife out of the silverware drawer.

“Jacob has an appointment later this morning,” she explained, pouring a coffee from the pot and offering him the mug, “Kim's covering for me at WOAK.”

Grunting in acknowledgement, Reid took the mug with one hand and shoved a chunk of apple into his mouth with the other.

Katie's curiousity could only hold out so long. “So...” She leant over the counter with her own mug clasped in her hands. “Good night?”

Sipping at his coffee, Reid attempted to school his face to give nothing away. It didn't work. “Not bad.”

“You're so happy right now,” she grinned and, yeah, Reid really couldn't stop himself from smiling either. “I'm so happy for you,” she continued, “and judging by the smile on Luke's face when he left, I should be happy for him, too.”

Reid lowered the apple he'd just been slicing another part off. “He was okay? Not too...embarrassed or anything that you knew what we'd been doing?”

“Nah,” Katie shook her head. “I mean, I think he was a little but mostly he was just happy.”

Nodding, Reid was pleased to hear it. He was willing to bet cold, hard cash that Luke and Noah had never had sex knowing that someone was sleeping in the room next door. Hell, he was willing to bet they'd never had sex knowing someone was even in the same house.

“Well,” Katie said, as she started moving around the counter towards him, “I won't press you for details-”

“Good,” Reid told her around a piece of apple, “because you won't get any.”

“But I meant what I said,” she continued, unperturbed. “I'm really happy for you. From what you've told me about your background,” that made him pause, “I know this stuff has always been...hard for you.”

Bowing his head, Reid tried to focus on cutting another slice of apple. “It was.” Though his hands didn't seem to be working properly. “Before him.”

Katie brought her free hand to her chest, making a _face_ before leaning towards towards him as if to kiss his cheek. She thought better of it, though, once she got close enough. “Yeah,” she told him decisively, scrunching her face up in disgust, “you need a shower.”

Acknowledging the truth of that with a grunt, Reid took one more slurp of his coffee before abandoning the mug, taking the apple and knife with him and shuffling off towards the bathroom.

Half-way there he remembered something, slowly turning back towards Katie. “Oh, we need to get someone in to clean the carpet in my room.”

Freezing with her mug part-way up to her mouth, Katie held her other hand up by her face, a finger pointing upwards. “I'm actually not gonna ask. And it's your room, your responsibility.”

Resuming his shuffle towards the bathroom, Reid just rolled his eyes. Lube was an enormous pain in the ass to clear up.

_Ha_ , he thought to himself, _pun intended_.

*

A few hours later, Reid was putting his body through a few yoga poses. He mostly only did it after long surgeries, but after that workout with Luke he figured it paid to stay flexible anyway, especially with the age difference to consider.

Reid had no intention of ever leaving Luke anything but absolutely satisfied.

His phone went off just after he'd moved into Camel Pose. Carefully moving out of it, he stood up and reached for his phone, glancing at the Caller ID.

“Bob,” he greeted as he answered. “What can I do you for?”

“Reid,” Bob greeted in response. “Well, I needed to check in with you about something but I wanted to see how you were doing anyway. I heard about what happened at Memorial yesterday.”

“Uh, yeah,” Reid said, pulling out a chair by the dinner table and sitting down. “It was something.”

“Sounds like it. Are you and Luke both okay?”

“We're fine,” Reid assured him. “Nothing ever bothers me, Bob – you know that.”

“Oh, without question.”

He frowned as Bob's suspiciously amused tone. “And as for Luke, well, I don't think there's anything he can't survive.”

“Yes,” Bob agreed with a sigh, “and I'm afraid he's had to survive more than most.” After a sombre moment, he pressed on. “While I'm glad the two of you are doing well, it's incredibly sad the way things turned out with Noah Mayer.”

“Definitely not the way Luke wanted things to go.”

“No, I imagine not,” Bob remarked. “I hope Noah finds a way to come to terms with things.”

Reid couldn't find it in himself to be that generous. “Sure. Okay.”

Fortunately, Bob kept talking. “That's actually why I'm calling you.”

“About Noah?”

“Well, in a way – about what we discussed, yesterday. I talked to my people and...well, I just wanted to assure you that, as far as the hospital's concerned, there's nothing standing in the way of you and Luke starting a relationship.”

Something about the way Bob said it just didn't sit right, not after the night he'd spent with Luke and how much it'd meant. “Well gee, Bob, I'm just gosh-darned thrilled that a bunch of old straight guys decided that Luke and I could stay together.”

“Reid,” Bob said firmly, “this is a win. Take it in the spirit intended.”

Annoyed at Bob, and himself, Reid closed his eyes. Ground his teeth together. “I know you're just trying to help.”

“And I'm happy to give that help,” Bob replied in his usual carefree style. “Yesterday's...incident caused some consternation, but I was able to persuade them that, barring any obvious signs of favouritism, the hospital wasn't as risk.”

Only yesterday he'd been the one to come to Bob himself, make him aware that he and Luke dating could be an issue. Now? He could barely stand the fact that Bob could tell him who he could or couldn't relate to. “That sounds suspiciously like they're going to keep an eye on us, Bob.”

Bob didn't mince words. “They probably will. But I know you take your career too seriously to ever show favouritism to anyone – not even Luke. The two of you have nothing to worry about.”

“Sure,” Reid said sarcastically, “it all sounds fine and dand-” He was interrupted by his phone pinging and immediately lowered it to see who had messaged him.

_Luke Snyder:  
Can't stop thinking about you_

And yeah, so things could be worse.

Feeling not quite as cranky as he had been, Reid brought the phone back to his ear. “I gotta go, Bob. Thanks, I guess, for...” He gestured mindlessly, despite the fact no one was there to see it.

“No problem at all, Reid,” he said congenially. “It's Saturday tomorrow, so have a good weekend and I'll see you bright and early Monday morning.”

A few seconds after that, Reid had ended the call and was already messaging Luke back.

_Me? Or my dick?_

He may have had an extra spring in his step as he rummaged in the fridge mindlessly, waiting for Luke's inevitable reply.

_Both, obviously_

Luke followed that message with three eggplant emojis and even though he smiled, Reid hated himself for it. “I'm dating a child.”

Nonetheless, Reid was already busy searching for an emoji that was equally phallic when his phone went off again – a phone call this time. It was Luke.

Reid abandoned the hunt immediately, smirking to himself as he answered the call. “Thank you for calling Sexual Innuendos Incorporated, how may I direct your call?”

Luke laughed into his phone. “Oh man, much as I'd love to play along right now, I do actually have a reason to call.”

“Besides my dick?”

“Besides...that,” Luke concluded carefully, obviously still at work. “We've been invited to a meal tonight. By Crista.”

Hmm. “Any particular reason?”

“She's going back to Malta soon,” Luke offered, “and she says it's time that she finally did what she came here to do.”

“And...what?” Reid asked. “She has to announce it over a meal instead of just talking to you like a normal person?”

“Apparently so.”

It was abundantly clear that it wasn't just Lucinda's blood line that held a sense of the dramatic.

“I'll be there.” Reid wasn't missing out on a single opportunity to see Luke in a suit. “What time and where?”

Reid made a note of the time and place, and then Luke started speaking again.

“Grandmother will be there.” Reid hadn't expected anything else. “And because Mom knows about Crista and the fact that she's staying in the same house, she's insisted on coming too.” Also not really a surprise. “Also...” Luke said cagily, “Mom and Dad are actually talking to each other at the moment. And the only thing they agree on right now is how much they hate, and don't trust, anyone else in the Grimaldi family.”

Yeah, he knew where this was going. “So...Good Dad's coming too.”

“Yeah,” Luke said carefully. “Dad read me the riot act over the phone half an hour ago for not telling him about Crista. I don't mean to ambush you-”

“You're doing nothing of the kind,” Reid insisted, “it's not even you who asked for the meal. And let's face it,” he said honestly, “I was going to be invited to some awkward family dinner at some point anyway, right? Might as well get it over with.”

“...okay,” Luke said eventually, voice sounding small and pleased. “I miss you,” he added quietly and Reid could picture him perfectly; phone against his ear, chair turned away and body hunched down in an attempt to get some privacy.

Then Luke lowered his voice even further. “I miss having you inside me.”

Reid's eyes snapped wide open as his brain just about dribbled out of his ears. He cleared his throat. “If you're up for it,” he said seriously, “we'll make sure that happens again tonight.”

“Oh I'm _up_ for it,” Luke said, emboldened, before ending the call.

That little shit.

*

The dinner that evening was at The Lakeview, the only place in town that had an up-scale restaurant. Reid couldn't imagine the likes of Lucinda Walsh eating at Al's, though Luke had mentioned somewhere that she did like a good milkshake (a fact Reid had had to promise never to share, on pain on death).

Reid wasn't quite the last to arrive – apparently Lucinda had that pleasure – and as he drew nearer he could see the others waiting outside the entrance to the hotel's restaurant.

More importantly, he could see Luke waiting outside the entrance to the hotel's restaurant.

Luke, who he hadn't seen since their memorable morning. Luke, who looked incredible in a dark suit and blue dress shirt.

On the way over there Reid had considered – for all of a few seconds – maybe reigning it in a little. Luke's parents and grandmother were all going to be there, at some point he was going to have to make a good impression.

But then Luke saw him. Lowered his head. Smiled in utter delight.

And Reid knew Luke wanted him to kiss him just as much as Reid wanted to do the kissing.

So Reid gave them what they both wanted. As soon as Luke was within reach, Reid cupped his face and kissed him long, hard and with the full depth of emotion he'd been carrying around inside him all day. When he finally pulled away Luke's hands were ruffling through his hair and their faces were so close together Luke's face was just a happy blur.

“Missed you,” Luke said into Reid's face.

“Don't start that again,” Reid warned, making Luke grin some more as they thought of that earlier phone call.

“My my,” Lucinda's voice burst their little bubble, sadly forcing Reid to pull away and turn towards her as she approached. “That was quite the greeting. I'm sure we all long for the days when we had someone greet us that enthusiastically, hmm?”

“Speak for yourself,” Crista said candidly. “I have a loving partner at home who still greets me that way every time she sees me.”

Lucinda's gaze lasered in on her. “Oh, do you now?” Taking Crista's arm, she started guiding her into the restaurant. “You simply must tell me all about her. Do you have pictures?”

As Lucinda worked her magic, Reid finally realised he should probably do something about the parents. “Miss Walsh,” he acknowledged, as Luke's hand slid down to grip his own. “Mr Snyder.”

“Holden, please,” Luke's dad said, reaching out to shake his free hand. Reid knew they'd met during the early stages of Noah's treatment, but they'd never really spoken to each other before today. “I'd like to thank you for what you did for Luke yesterday.”

Reid brushed it off. “It was nothing, he would've easily coped by himself-”

“Yeah,” Holden agreed, meeting his gaze, “but the point is he didn't have to. So, thank you.”

Vaguely taking the compliment, Reid was taken aback when Luke's mom spoke to him next.

“And please, Reid,” she said deliberately, making a point of using his first name, “call me Lily.”

Shocked, Reid turned his head to stare at Luke with a look that said, _does your mom actually not hate my guts?_

“But, uh,” Lily continued, drawing Reid's attention back to her. “Before we go in, you might want to do something about your hair.” She gestured towards his head, a smile turning up the corners of her mouth.

“What did you do to me?” Reid demanded, trying and failing to look up at his own hair as Luke started patting it down.

“Thanks a lot, Mom,” Luke complained with good humour. “We could've had him looking like that all night!”

The meal continued in a similarly good-natured vein for most of the night. They were seated quickly, served surprisingly good food, and Luke spent the entire time touching Reid in some way – a hand resting on his thigh, fingers fiddling with the back of Reid's neck, his arm pressing against Reid's.

Reid discovered pretty damn quickly that he was a fan of this.

Even Lily and Holden were clearly making an effort to not be completely horrible to each other. Things only finally took a turn when Crista had apparently decided her time had come. Picking up her knife, she gently hit it against her glass to get everyone's attention. She even stood up to speak to them, which Reid didn't think anyone did outside of weddings.

“Thank you all for being here tonight,” she told them, lifting her glass. “When I came to Oakdale, it was to fulfil the dream of my sister, Cassandra. Family had always been so important to her, and it was her fondest desire that all parts of the Grimaldi family, across the globe, should be reconciled.” Smiling sadly, she brought her drink closer to her body, staring down at it. “Last year, she died in a car accident.” Lily gasped in sympathy. Luke's hand tightened its grip on Reid's thigh. “We tried, but...by the time I got to her...” She looked at Reid significantly.

Her sister hadn't been a werewolf, either born or by choice. And by the time Crista reached her, she'd been too far gone that even turning her wouldn't have saved her. Or perhaps she'd simply been happy with who she was and her sister had respected her wishes.

“So, I took it as my quest to bring the family together,” she announced with tears in her eyes. “I never knew Damian as an adult, as the man he became. To me and Cassandra, he was our silly little cousin who knew all the best hiding places at family gatherings.” She glanced off to one side with a watery smile, obviously stuck in a memory. “Even back then, he was clever.” Shaking the memory off, she forced her attention back to her audience. “But then we started hearing things – terrible, awful things – that he'd done. And that others in our family had done with him. We couldn't believe it for the longest time. And then one day,” she let out a breath, “he sent us the money.”

That'd certainly piqued Lucinda's interest. “How much money are we talking here?”

“The equivalent of about ten million dollars.”

Whoa. “That's a nice handful of change.”

“We never asked for it,” she insisted emotionally, finally sitting back down and placing her glass on the table. “We didn't want it. We knew the kind of man he'd become and wanted nothing to do with him.” She looked at Luke directly. “We went to the bank, we even went to the police and while they did investigate, in the end...the money was ours.”

Luke studied her with a sad expression. “Did Damian ever tell you why he sent it?”

“He sent a message at the time,” Crista explained, “thanking us for the happiest moments of his childhood. I know his father was a...tough man, but none of the details beyond that.”

Everyone at the table sat back, ruminating over everything she'd said.

Lily spoke first. “So why come here?”

“As I said, my sister passed away,” Crista pressed a hand to her chest, “and I wanted to honour her wishes, so I started investigating. Found out about you,” she smiled at Luke encouragingly. “And your foundation.”

Luke, apparently, had reached the same conclusion as Reid. “You want to give me the money.”

Crista nodded her head forward. “I do.” She looked around at their faces. “Cassandra and I had been so lucky – somehow we'd escaped the Grimaldi influence, had never been forced to do anything for that part of the family. But, you,” she urged, “even so far away, your life had been disrupted by him, again and again.”

“That's putting it mildly,” Holden muttered.

“So you understand my point,” Crista said, encouraged. “It seemed only right that Damian's son, his own flesh and blood, should use the money for _good_. Cassandra and I – and Louisa, my partner – never knew what to do with that kind of money. We didn't want to use it for ourselves, but didn't want to get tangled up in red tape either. In all honesty, we just tried to forget about it until Cassandra died. But you,” she smiled at Luke again, “you'd already set up your foundation with your own money from Damian. You'd know what to do with it.”

“And that's why I'm not liking what I'm hearing,” Holden told her. When she looked confused, he pressed on. “Look, Crista, I appreciate you sharing your story with us,” he gestured around the table, “but you are behaving in exactly the same way as Damian did.”

Crista looked horrified. “I dont...understa-”

“Damien came to us – to Luke,” Lucinda amended, “with a sad story and a very large cheque. And while I certainly never trusted him, in the end he screwed us over anyway.” Leaning forward, she held Crista's gaze. “Now, although it's his decision I'd be more than happy for Luke to take the money – we disagree on the point that money is simply money, it doesn't matter where it came from – but it certainly doesn't mean that we're about to trust you.”

“I'm not asking you to trust me,” Crista insisted, obviously offended at being compared to Damian. “All I want is to give you the money. To try and fix things. If you don't want it? Fine,” she spat, “it can sit there and rot.”

There was another silence for a while, as everyone looked at each other.

Shrugging, Reid raised his hand.

Luke squinted at him. “Reid?”

He kept his hand up. “Hey, if you don't want it, I'll take the ten million dollars.”

And now Luke was glaring at him. “Reid.”

“What?” he asked honestly, lowering his hand. “I'm with Lucinda on this one.”

“But it's the principle of it,” Lily tried to explain, “where the money came from-”

“Yeah, and I might buy that reasoning if Luke hadn't taken Damian's money already. I'm not judging you for it,” he assured Luke, “taking the money was the smart move and you created something incredible with it. So why not take more? What's the point in letting it sit there doing nothing when instead you could make something amazing? That money could create more resources for the underprivileged, clubs to support trans and gay teens, more equipment for the neurology wing, even your,” he made air quotes with his fingers, “'Inspiration Zone'.”

Luke's glare only strengthened. “I already told you that is _not_ a dumb idea.”

“It really is,” Reid told him, “but you'd have the money to build it anyway.”

Sitting back in his chair, Luke threw his hands up. “I don't know.” Gaze eventually falling on Crista, he felt compelled to speak again. “Thank you, for your generous offer. But I'll need some time.”

“Of course,” Crista agreed and at least her mood seemed to be improving.

“So,” Lucinda clapped her hands together, clearly trying to move things along, “who's for the dessert menu?”

It was definitely awkward for a while after that, but eventually things started to thaw around the table. Luke got into a discussion with his dad about 'the farm' and how the kids were doing and Lucinda and Crista started comparing their favourite wines.

Reid and Lily nodded at each other, from time to time.

Things reached a whole new level of uncomfortable – for everyone except Reid, that is – when they overheard a nearby conversation.

“-and, uh, probably not a good idea to sit over this side of the room, Noah,” a vaguely familiar voice said. Reid peered around his chair to see a nurse from Memorial with Casey Hughes, leading Noah through the restaurant.

Wonderful.

“Yeah, good idea, Ali,” Casey said, eyes widening as he realised exactly who was there. “Um, Noah, let's ask Lisa if we can-”

“Okay, you guys are being really weird,” Noah pointed out, standing in the middle of the room. “I appreciate that you wanted to do something nice for me after...everything...but I said Al's would be fine. Now come on, what's going on?”

Casey and Luke made faces at each other. Then hand gestures. Finally, when Luke mimed wrapping his hands around Casey's throat, Casey gave in.

“Uh, Luke's here, man. With his parents. And Lucinda.” He paused, clearing his throat as he scratched the back of his head. “And Dr Oliver. And some dark-haired chick I don't know-”

Noah froze. “Do they know I'm here?”

It was as if Casey's entire body shrank. “...yes?”

Noah was already in the process of turning around. “Take me out of here.”

“Sir, yes sir,” Casey agreed as he and Alison guided Noah back out of the room as quickly as humanly possible. “So, Al's, yeah, that sounds really good,” Casey said loudly as they left the restaurant, “maybe have some of that apple pie, it tastes so good-”

Reid could've entertained himself by listening to Casey trying to distract Noah for a much longer period of time. He reached for the dessert menu instead. 

Placing her napkin on the table, Lily slid out of her chair. “I'll be right back,” she said, clearly about to talk to Noah as she followed after the group.

The rest of them shared a look. Luke seemed a little confused. Lucinda looked like she was trying not to smile. Holden sipped at his drink.

Reid just flicked through his menu. “I suddenly have a craving for apple pie. Anyone else?”

*

They didn't really get to talk about Crista or her offer until the next morning, mostly because when they got back to Reid's place after the meal they pretty much forgot about anything except Reid's promise to get his dick inside Luke again.

As far as Reid was concerned, they definitely had their priorities straight.

It was only over breakfast the morning after that Reid really started thinking about it.

It clearly didn't escape Luke's notice, who started speaking as he sat across from Reid with a bowl of fruit. “Hmm, someone's thinking thinky-thoughts.”

Shaking his head minutely, Reid focused back on Luke. “Huh?” Then realised exactly what Luke had said and made a face. “'Thinky-thoughts'?”

Uncaring, Luke just smiled at him as he stabbed a grape with a fork. “Come on, what's on your mind?”

Pushing his plate to one side, Reid confessed. “Crista.”

Luke eyed him carefully, face transforming as he realised. “She got to you.”

Reid denied it, because obviously. “I wouldn't say that.”

“Oh, no, of course,” Luke teased, “because you're a cold, unavailable man who never listens to his emotions.” Grinning to himself, Luke popped the grape into his mouth and started chewing.

“Ah, the good old days...” he mused dramatically, slouching back in his chair.

“You were never any such thing,” Luke told him, “and you know it.”

Try as he might to deny it, Reid knew Luke spoke the truth. “Listening to her speak last night, it finally struck me that...maybe she was worth listening to.” Luke looked confused, so Reid continued. “I'm not going to lie – I was ticked off at her. About the werewolf thing.”

Luke nodded his head to the side. “Understandable.”

“And even though she was my only source of information about how to live with this new part of me, even though she could help me, I didn't want to give her the time of day.”

Luke studied him seriously. “Why do you think that was?”

“Because she was a moron!” Reid declared, which made Luke cough into his fruit. “Seriously? She was a werewolf for forty-plus years and she didn't see it coming? She didn't know she wouldn't be able to control herself? It was stupidity, plain and simple.”

“And lord knows you can't stand stupidity.”

“Hence why I only like you,” Reid conceded. “And Katie. And Jacob.” Huh. “And Lucinda-”

“Careful, Dr Oliver, the list of people you like is growing.”

Reid narrowed his eyes at Luke's evil grin. “Anyway, hearing her talk last night, it sunk in that...well, she's still a moron,” he tapped a hand lightly on the table, “because who throws away ten million dollars? But at the very least, she's a moron who stands against the likes of Damian. Tries to do the right thing.”

“So maybe she is worth talking to,” Luke finished quietly, watching him. “You know, she's here for two more days.”

“I know.”

“So go talk to her,” Luke encouraged. “I mean you're right, Reid. Maybe you were angry at her. Maybe you were just trying to cope with this incredible thing you were going through. And maybe you've been a little...distracted,” he smiled to himself, knowing full well he was the reason Reid had been distracted in the first place, “but she's the only opportunity you're going to have to find out what it's really like to be a werewolf. I doubt there's a _Secret Werewolf Club of America_ FaceSpace page.”

“Worth a try,” he muttered.

“Sure it is,” Luke mocked. “Look, go talk with her. Learn what you need to learn. You're a man who prides himself on doing everything well. Why should being a werewolf be any different?”

It was abundantly clear that Luke Snyder knew him far too well already. “Fine,” he gave in, standing up. “Are you working today? Or tomorrow?”

“Well it's the weekend, so apart from a few phone calls I wasn't planning on it.”

“Good,” Reid nodded, “you're coming with me. This is going to be something I deal with for the rest of my life, right?” After Luke nodded, Reid continued. “Right, so you should know it all, too. So you can help.”

He left the table immediately, heading straight for his room to get changed – and so he wouldn't have to see Luke's face.

He needn't have bothered. He'd barely taken two steps into his room when Luke tackled him from behind, shoving him onto the bed.

“What the-”

Reid managed to turn over – albeit with Luke's assistance – only to see the man in question smiling down at him.

“You can't just say stuff like that,” Luke said happily, holding him down.

Reid was very happy indeed to be held there. “I believe I just did.”

“I suppose you have a point,” Luke considered, before letting go and sliding down his body instead. Quickly tugging off Reid's pajama bottoms, Luke knelt in front of his dick, intention obvious.

And, well. Far be it from Reid to deny Luke what he wanted.

*

In the end, they spent nearly the entire weekend with Crista. Reid asked questions in a level of detail he hadn't bothered with the first time – still freshly turned and too annoyed at Crista to do anything else.

Crista answered everything in equal detail, sometimes having to repeat herself to clarify something for him or Luke. She showed them her transformation close-up, let them touch her nails – or claws, if they were being accurate. Despite everything he'd been through, Reid still couldn't quite reconcile the idea that he'd have his own set of gnarly nails come the next full moon.

Instead he tried to theorise with her how any of it could be possible, scientifically. She shared ideas and information that'd been passed down through the werewolf side of her family (her dad, apparently, though he'd been dead for some time). The bloodline that carried lycanthropy had obviously had decades, even centuries of time to reach their own conclusions. Some had even moved into the medical field in an attempt to understand.

There were still no hard, cold facts. Medically, a werewolf appeared exactly the same as a human. There were no unusual markers in their blood, which made no sense whatsoever. X-rays and MRIs showed no hidden teeth, no claws secreted inside their fingers, nothing to explain the luminescence when their eyes changed colour.

Luke half-jokingly suggested magic. Crista thought it an act of God.

Reid didn't know what the hell it was, which frustrated the hell out of him.

Still, they continued. Crista tried to teach him how to control the transformation, which was difficult considering the fact that he wouldn't be able to change until the full moon. She described what it felt like anyway, the emotions and sensations he should expect and what to do so he wasn't 'stuck' in the change for the entire night of the full moon.

Reid asked the question about sex, obviously. Luke flushed but listened eagerly as Crista confirmed that, yes, she'd certainly made love when transformed and though it made things more 'intense' – her words – it was a thoroughly enjoyable experience for all involved.

Yeah. They were definitely trying that.

She talked about the healing, and how it wasn't really a game changer – if you were that seriously injured as a werewolf, you'd pretty much die just the same way a human would. Werewolves couldn't heal more than a human could, they just healed a bit faster. Bruises faded at a faster rate, paper cuts only stung for a short while. It was at this point that Luke insisted Reid take his shirt off. Reid made a joke about Crista watching but complied, and in the bathroom Luke smoothed his hand over Reid's shoulder blade, confirming for himself what Reid already knew – there was no sign left of Crista's scratch at all.

And at night, when they were sure everyone else was asleep – werewolf hearing was definitely a plus – Luke took them out near the Snyder Pond at the farm, where Crista put Reid through his paces.

He was faster, but only a little and stronger, but not by much. Crista pushed him on anyway, making sure he knew just where his limits were and how much he was or wasn't able to do.

Maybe Luke had been right, Reid thought as he lay on the grass, panting. As different as things were now, he didn't feel much more impressive than he had before – though that could've had something to do with the fact that he'd always had a high opinion of himself. All the physical werewolf stuff was undoubtedly an advantage – but just a slight advantage.

Except maybe the hearing. That was one thing, without a doubt, that Reid secretly thought was amazing.

But...'human plus' seemed fitting, as it was only one day – night, even – a month that he was going to have to deal with any outward sign that he was different, now.

Late on the Sunday, Luke finally started asking his own questions – though they had nothing to do with werewolves. Crista patiently answered every one of those, too – what her life had been like, what her life was like now, and any memories she had of Damian as a young boy.

Luke listened, enraptured, as she described Damian's goofiness, his kindness to her and Cassandra and just how much he used to laugh (“Don't tell my dad I asked,” Luke said quietly, after, guilt written across his features. Reid just kissed him softly).

Finally, when it was nearing midnight on the Sunday, they said goodbye.

“You will do well as a werewolf,” she told Reid firmly, slapping him the arm.

He shrugged, pretending to think about it. “I am good at everything.”

“Though that ego needs some work,” she remarked with a knowing smile. “I think it's helped. Your bond with Luke,” she continued, gesturing to the man who was pretending to give them some privacy but was clearly eavesdropping. “As I said, it's easier with someone to ground you. And not just for being a werewolf,” she added with a wink.

Reid didn't do anything unimaginable like hug her or anything – but of course Luke did, pulling her close.

“Thank you so much for everything,” Luke told her, apparently having determined over the course of these two days that she was now a life-long friend. “I can't tell you how much we appreciate everything you've done for us.”

“Yes,” Reid agreed loudly, “that turning me into a werewolf thing? That was the _best_.”

Luke showed his lack of amusement by folding his arms across his chest. Crista just smiled. “Come now, Reid. Has is really been that bad?”

He opened his mouth to instinctively say, well yes, of course it'd been terrible. But then he glanced across at Luke and realised they probably wouldn't even be together if Crista had never scratched him.

“It's been,” he admitted, “not entirely useless.”

“High praise from the likes of you,” Crista said. She faced Luke. “You know how to contact me if you or Reid have anymore-”

“Actually,” Luke interrupted, glancing at Reid briefly, “before you go.”

“Yes?”

Luke nodded to himself, as if sure as something. “If the offer's still there, I'd like to take the money.”

Reid had been hoping for that outcome and though Crista felt the same way, her pleasure was much more effusive.

“Oh, you make me so happy!” she declared, actually grabbing Luke's cheeks. “When I get back to Malta I will contact you and we'll work out all the details. And I also hope...” she calmed a little, releasing Luke's face and looking at him significantly, “that the money and Reid being a werewolf aren't the only reason we keep in contact.”

“I hope that, too,” Luke told her, which didn't come as a surprise to Reid. He already had a million relatives, what was one more?

As they watched her leave in the darkness – she'd insisted on walking back to the townhouse under the moon, and they knew she could take care of herself – Reid slung an arm around Luke's shoulders.

“You okay?”

Shaking himself out of his funk, Luke pressed closer towards him. “Yeah, it's just nice, you know. Having a Grimaldi relative who's...”

“Not a psychopath?”

Luke chuckled, but couldn't deny the truth of it. “Yeah, pretty much. Home?”

“Home,” Reid confirmed, arm still around Luke as they quietly walked towards Luke's car.

“She's right, you know,” Luke told him just as they were about to get in the car, arm braced against the roof.

“About what?”

“You,” Luke said, “you're gonna be the best werewolf there is.”

Snorting, Reid got into the car. “Considering there's only one night a month where I can look anything even remotely like a werewolf, I doubt it.” There was part of him that was definitely sad he didn't get to see Crista in her full glory, but she wasn't staying until the next full moon.

Settling into the driver's seat, Luke pulled the door shut. “But if there's one thing I got out of all this, it's that being a werewolf is not just about the claws or...being able to smell what Henry Coleman had for lunch-”

“Cheeseburger with a strawberry milkshake, by the way. You'd think that guy would try to eat something healthy once in a while.”

“You're one to talk,” Luke rebuked. “My point is that being a werewolf is also about...following your heart. Allowing yourself to do the things that you really want, that you'd otherwise be afraid to do.” Leaning his head back against the headrest, Luke gazed at him seriously. “You're going to be so happy, Reid.”

It was hard, even now, for Reid not to look away. “Well, if that actually works out to be true,” he forced himself to say, “I doubt it'll have anything to do with me being a werewolf.”

Luke practically wiggled in his seat, seeming downright thrilled at the implication.

Reid gave him a few moments.

Then a few more. “You're driving, by the way.”

“Oh! Right.” Shifting in his seat, Luke shoved the key into the ignition.

Reid tried to hold it in, but when he caught his reflection in the passenger side window he thought of what Luke had said and just...didn't. Couldn't.

And slowly let the smile spread across his face.

*

Life was truly awesome for a while after that – there was no denying it. Reid returned to work a new man – almost literally, as the boosts to his capacity to hear and smell helped him with his job in surprising new ways. He'd never say that he could smell whether a brain tumour was malignant or not but he could always tell, something Luke found particularly 'cool'.

(“That's amazing!” Luke said, excited. “You're like those pets who can tell if their owners have cancer or not.”

Reid had given him a particularly hard fucking after that remark, though he suspected that'd been Luke's plan all along).

Lucinda kept her promise to meet up every week and Luke decided that he would keep it private, just between the two of them.

(“I hope you're not offended,” Luke told him after making the decision, “but I can hardly talk about you if you're sitting right next to me.”

Reid wasn't bothered in the slightest, knowing how much Luke enjoyed having time with his Grandmother – and pleased that he was going to be a frequent topic of discussion. “I don't see why not,” he remarked anyway, “I talk about people when they're next to me all the time.”

“Yes, but you're usually insulting them when you do that.”

“What's your point?”)

There'd been a couple more family dinners, usually with either Lily or Holden in attendance, depending on where the meal happened. Reid and Holden still got on well, and Reid and Lily had started... _talking_.

(“Oh Em Gee,” Luke announced dramatically, throwing himself next to Reid on the bed. “You and my mom, BFFs!”

“I know you're trying to say something using the English language,” Reid said, never looking away from his book, “but I have no idea what it is.”

Sticking his head underneath Reid's and thus blocking his view of the book – such a brat – Luke made a Very Sad Face. “Are you gonna be my new dad?”

Reid laughed despite himself, conceding and throwing the book aside. “I'll show you about daddies.”)

And as for him and Luke...

In actuality, it'd only been a few weeks – though the full moon was fast approaching, it hadn't even been a month yet. But so far, Luke's prediction seemed to be holding true.

Reid had never laughed – or smiled – as much in his life as he had in the weeks he and Luke had been together. Luke was...childish. Bratty. Infuriating. Brilliant. _Funny_. Generous.

And Reid didn't have the faintest idea why, but Luke had decided that Reid was the man he wanted to be with.

Reid should've been cautious. Should've been waiting for the other shoe to drop, when he'd spent a lifetime being cynical and expecting the worst to happen.

But he didn't. Wasn't. In his professional life he may have been using his physical werewolf attributes to improve his work, but in his personal life he found he couldn't do anything but follow his instincts, werewolf or otherwise. Instincts that said, _do everything it takes to make Luke happy_.

As it turned out, keeping Luke happy was what made Reid happy, so it was a win-win for both of them.

They were still working on the plans for the neurology wing together, and though they were very careful when discussing the wing in public and were vigilant about meeting targets, they usually settled disputes behind closed doors. Namely, the door to Reid's bedroom, where Luke would fuck Reid until he couldn't see straight just to make a point.

Neither one of them actually conceded anything after these 'work sessions', but they certainly helped alleviate stress.

Speaking of 'work sessions', their sex life just kept improving as they became more comfortable, learning what they each liked in the bedroom (or the kitchen. One time. To Katie's horror). It probably helped that they were largely on the same page with what they enjoyed when it came to sex, but either way Reid had never had trouble saying if something wasn't working for him and it wasn't long before Luke started speaking up, too.

All-in-all, there was no denying that life was pretty damn awesome even for him, Resident Grump (he heard the way the nurses spoke about him). The full moon was almost upon them, too, something they were both looking forward to, proven by how worked up they were during sex the past couple of days.

So, yes, Reid thought to himself as he strode through Old Town on his way to meet Luke at Al's, Luke had been right. He was happy. He was even _so_ happy, though that phrase irked him.

Reid was busy thinking up creative new ways of 'punishing' Luke when someone bumped into him. Reid's first instinct wasn't even to tell them to watch where they were going, which really said something about his state of mind-

“Dr Oliver.”

Reid finally came out of his head long enough to realise exactly who he'd collided with.

Well, there it was. The other shoe he hadn't been waiting for had decided to drop anyway.

“Noah.”


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last part! I had so much fun writing this, thank you for the support and encouragement :) I'm pleased to say I've just finished another fic, so whenever my ~~feedback wenches~~ betas are done with it, I'll start posting that :D

Being Head of Neurology, Reid was fully aware of Noah's treatment and current state of recovery. He knew that, in the weeks since he'd seen him last, Noah's eyesight had continued to improve. There was only some mild blurring now, with a much greater field of vision, and he was quite obviously able to recognise faces.

Unfortunately for Reid.

Not saying a thing, Reid just turned and started walking away. Luke had made it clear he wanted nothing to do with Noah, and Reid planned on honouring those wishes.

But then a hand grabbed his arm. “Dr Oliver, wait.”

Spinning back around, Reid glared at the arm, then at the man holding it. “Get your hands off me.”

Immediately letting go, Noah held his hands up apologetically. “Sorry, I'm sorry. I just wanted to...” he made an awkward face, “...talk.”

Sure he did. “You always get physical when you want to 'talk' to someone?”

“That's not what I-” Noah stopped, sighing as he lowered his hands. “I'm sorry. For what I did to Luke.”

Reid had no intention of letting Noah off easy. “I think Luke's the one you need to be apologising to.”

Noah didn't deny it, nodding. “I...overreacted, that day.”

Ha! “You think?”

“All I could think was that...you'd taken Luke from me. That he'd let himself be taken. When I always thought we'd get back together because we always had before.”

“You were throwing quite the pity party for yourself,” Reid spat, “and I already made it extremely clear to you that Luke cannot be _taken_ -”

“I know, I know,” Noah interrupted, holding his hands out to try and pacify Reid. “I know that. Now. That evening, a couple of weeks back at the Lakeview.” They clearly both remembered. “Lily came and spoke to me afterwards. We...had words. Casey and Ali were there too, and I...hadn't been completely honest with them about what'd happened-”

“Imagine that.”

“-and when they found out...” Noah lowered his head. “I heard a lot of things that day that I needed to hear. It gave me a lot to think about and eventually I started recognising just how badly I messed things up.”

Huh. Noah had actually learned something? Maybe there was hope for mankind, after all, but Reid still didn't have any sympathy for him. “Bully for you, Mr Mayer, I hope this teaches you not to be as abusive to your next boyfriend as you were to your last.”

“Dr Oliver...Reid, come on,” Noah pleaded. “I'm trying to admit that I was wrong, trying to apologise and you're really not making it easy.”

“And why on Earth should I make it easy for you?” He was clearly delusional. “After treating Luke like garbage for months – longer, from what I've heard – punishing him just for loving you? Physically assaulting the man you say you're in love with? Gee, yeah, I wonder why I don't just _make it easy_ for you.”

Noah's face slowly changed into a picture of dawning realisation. “You actually think you're it,” he said with wonder. “You think you're it for him, don't you? That now that you're together, Luke will never want to be with anyone else.”

There was no way in Oakdale he was giving Noah Mayer that satisfaction. “That's down to Luke to decide.”

Noah just kept studying him. “When Luke first told me you were dating I just thought you were using him for sex, or money.”

“Lovely impression you have of me.”

“But that's not it at all, is it?” he asked rhetorically. “You're actually in love with him.”

Reid wasn't embarrassed about his feelings for Luke, but it honestly had nothing to do with the guy. “The relationship between myself and Luke is just that – between me and Luke. He knows what he needs to know. Now, if you'll excuse me – hell, even if you don't – this conversation is over.”

Reid made it as far as the bench by the corner when he heard Noah's voice again – and his now-annoying werewolf hearing picked up every single word.

“Tell Luke that I'm leaving, okay? I'm going to LA and...I won't be coming back.”

That was the best news Reid had heard all year.

*

A couple of days later all thought of Noah Mayer had been put aside (he'd told Luke about the encounter, not because Noah had told him to, but because Reid didn't want to keep any secrets). They'd both arranged to have the next day off from work. Katie had – wisely – taken herself and Jacob to Margo's for the night. Luke's family and friends had been told in no uncertain terms that they were not to be disturbed at any costs. Luke had been vaguely embarrassed, knowing his loved ones probably thought he and Reid were about to engage in an orgy of monumental proportions, when realistically they were being cautious on the off-chance Reid wasn't able to control his transformation at all and someone walked in on Reid looking like an extra from Buffy.

Though Reid still intended that any sex they had that night would be of monumental proportions.

Both of them had been restless all day and it honestly felt like time was crawling at a snail's pace. Reid had heard that phrase many times, had experienced it himself personally. But he'd never felt it so keenly before, hadn't had minutes feel like literal hours.

They had sex before the sun went down, partly to help get rid of the nervous energy, partly to take the edge off for later and partly because – well, when didn't they want to have sex?

Luke insisted on being there, right next to him, as the sun began to set. Reid hadn't been feeling too bad, werewolf-wise before then (Crista seemed to be right, that having someone to settle you helped). The restlessness had mostly just been because of the anticipation, of never having experienced a full moon before.

Nothing happened for a while, the two of them sitting on the edge of the bed, waiting for something, _anything_.

When the sun had set completely, a frustrated Luke took matters into his own hands, turned off all the lights and yanked the curtains open even further, as far as they would go.

Reid was surprised by how strong the urge wasn't, now. He was still drawn to the moon, absolutely, and couldn't stop himself from walking towards the window now. But he wasn't the jittery mess he'd been the first couple of nights after being scratched.

He didn't know if it was because of Luke, or because he really was just that good at the werewolf thing; all he knew was that mostly he felt itchy – literally. His teeth and fingernails itched and, knowing instinctively what it meant, he remembered Crista's advice and just relaxed into it.

“You did it!” Luke exclaimed in shock, stepping towards him. “Can I...?” He reached out towards Reid's face and all Reid could do was nod.

He didn't really feel any different, if he was perfectly honest. He was aware there was a bit more hair on his face and he could clearly see that his nails were long and disturbingly pointy. “Wouldn't wanna try and wipe my ass with these things,” he said, or tried to say, around his new teeth.

Luke was busy the whole time just touching him, studying Reid with fascination. He fiddled with Reid's new face hair and inspected his claws closely, moving Reid's hands around so he could see them from multiple angles. He even forced Reid's mouth open, poking at his teeth.

“This is so _cool_ ,” Luke announced with awe.

Reid took it all with good grace, because it was a miracle in itself that Luke was there, and he was accepting Reid exactly the way he was.

Eventually, Luke stopped touching and just stared at him. “Your eyes are so beautiful,” he said honestly, before reaching for Reid's hand. “Come on,” he encouraged, guiding Reid towards the bathroom, “come and see the new you.”

They kept the lights off for safety's sake but Reid's eyesight was good enough that he could see exactly what the 'new him' looked like. Despite knowing it'd happened it still took some adjusting to the idea that it was himself he was looking at. His brain couldn't quite reconcile this new reality after seeing his reflection look a particular way for so long.

“How does it feel?” Luke asked, meeting his gaze in the mirror.

“Bizarre,” he said honestly, mostly mangling the word because of his teeth. Annoyed at them, he remembered something else Crista had said and decided to give it a try. It took a few attempts – to Luke it must've looked like he was just standing there doing nothing – but eventually he was able to make just his new teeth, and his new nails, recede.

“I knew you'd be good at this,” Luke told him, pleased, touching Reid's face as he took in the fact that the only physical signs of Reid's lycanthropy now were the facial hair and his bright yellow eyes.

But Reid wasn't the one who was good at this, not at all, because it'd been Luke there, every step of the way. Luke who'd supported, encouraged and loved Reid through the nuttiest part of his entire life. Luke hadn't blinked, had never turned away from him and wasn't turning away from him now, even though he was a literal monster.

And Reid got it, now, as the feeling that'd been building in his chest grew stronger and stronger. He hadn't thought it would be like this. He'd thought the only real difference tonight would be the physical changes. He'd expected to be like a wild animal, for him and Luke to have crazy, animalistic sex – and have great fun doing so.

 _Intense_ , was what Crista had said. But she'd never said in what way. It was his own fault for not asking.

But Reid understood now at least and followed, helplessly, as Luke tugged him towards the bed.

They didn't speak, then. They didn't need to.

The two of them had had many different types of sex. They'd had fast, desperate sex. Hot, angry sex. Slow, relaxed sex.

But nothing had ever touched on this, at the level of feeling that came with every taste, every touch, every sigh. Luke seemed to feel it, too, shaking against him and in the end, Reid felt like he'd cracked himself wide open for Luke to see every single part of him – all his fears, all his doubts.

And how very much he loved Luke Snyder.

“I didn't,” Reid tried to say after, for once at a loss for words. “I didn't think-”

“It's okay,” Luke told him with what Reid now knew were _good_ tears in his eyes, “you're not alone.” He held a shuddering Reid to his chest and just kept talking. “I know you hate not being in control of your emotions, but that's not a werewolf-only thing. We humans have to deal with that, too. When I first met you I hated you,” he said bluntly. “All I wanted was for you to fix Noah, and you just kept being an asshole.”

“I resent that,” Reid said into his chest.

“No you don't,” Luke informed him. “You love being an asshole. So there you were,” he continued quickly, “the one genius, asshole doctor who could fix Noah and...I couldn't stay away from you. I didn't want to be drawn to you. Fought against it. But in the end, I couldn't control my feelings for you any more than you can control your feelings now.”

Reid accepted the truth of it, even as he tried to calm the sheer level of _feeling_. Luke's scent had always helped before so he took advantage of it now, widening his nostrils to just breathe him in.

Luke started carding his fingers through Reid's hair. “I told you, a while back, that I knew I had nothing to fear from any part of you. Well, the same holds true for me, okay?” Luke carefully angled Reid's head until they could see each other. “I would never do _anything_ to hurt you.”

And Reid believed him.

Becoming a werewolf had taken Reid way, way out of his comfort zone emotionally. He wasn't embarrassed by his emotions but had always found them...hard to deal with. Katie had suggested it had something to do with the way he was raised and she was probably right.

Whether he'd wanted it to or not, being a werewolf had forced Reid to show his hand at a time when all he'd wanted to do was protect himself. It was something he probably should've resented – but how could he, when it meant he got to be with Luke?

They decided to try and rest, eventually, but the feeling in his chest hadn't gone anywhere. Reid just lay there watching Luke instead, acknowledging even as he did so that he had literally turned into the cliché he'd been mocking just a few weeks ago.

Such was life in Oakdale.

Luke cracked an eyelid open and peered at him. “Hey, you know what this means?”

Reid was utterly lost. “What?”

His face split into a grin. “I really am into bestiality.”

Watching Luke laugh at his own terrible, terrible joke – it was only funny if Reid said it – Reid knew that becoming a werewolf may not have been the best thing that'd ever happened to him.

But it was definitely the second best.

~FINIS


End file.
